Rep. Lyndon Yearick

This Act provides a senior discount for residents and non-residents 62 years of age and older, for a conservation access pass, and a life-time conservation access pass for Delaware residents, 65 years of age and older, consistent with current senior discounts for access fees to Delaware State Parks.

This Act changes the definition of tavern from an establishment with a special space and accommodation for sale of beer by the glass for consumption on the premises to an establishment with a special space and accommodation for sale of beer and wine in single servings. The Act also revises § 513 to allow any person in charge of a tavern to apply to the Commissioner for a license to purchase from an importer and to receive, keep and sell beer and wine instead of only beer. The beer and wine must be consumed on the premises where sold.

Subchapter III, Chapter 68, Title 16 of the Delaware Code (“Subchapter III”) was originally enacted in 1982. In 1996, President Clinton signed the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1791 (“Bill Emerson Act”). The Bill Emerson Act preempts Subchapter III to the extent of any conflict, known as “partial preemption”. This Act makes Subchapter III consistent with the Bill Emerson Act by protecting a “gleaner” from civil or criminal liability as it relates to their donation of the gleaned food. Since the Bill Emerson Act only partially preempts state law on this subject, the State is free to provide greater protection than the Bill Emerson Act. Therefore, this Act does all of the following: 1. Extends to those who, in good faith, donate food to state agencies the same immunity from civil or criminal liability that is granted to those who, in good faith, donate food to nonprofit organizations. 2. Specifically includes within the definition of “food” both perishable food and wild game to makes it clear that food, in all of its forms, is covered by this Act. Thus, under this Act, those donating deer to the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s Sportsmen Against Hunger program would be immune from civil or criminal liability as it relates to the donation. 3. Protects a person who, in good faith, provides services to a nonprofit organization or state agency related to the processing of wild game that is donated to a nonprofit organization or a state agency. This Act removes the exemption from liability for donation of prepared food from Title 10 so that the exemption no longer appears in both Title 10 and Title 16. The Act also clarifies the authority of Division of Public Health and Department of Agriculture relating to donated food.

This Act permits wedding venues and persons renting a premises for other social gatherings to allow customers to bring alcoholic beverages onto the premises, if licensed by the Commissioner as a bottle club. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act allows 2 or more microbreweries to share brewing equipment if the microbreweries maintain separate premises to sell their product to consumers and wholesalers. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Senate Joint Resolution creates a one-time, Toll Violation Amnesty Program (Amnesty Program) to provide a 3 month long opportunity for people to satisfy toll debt that is in collection from toll violations that occurred on I-95 and SR 1. The Amnesty Program will collect funds that the State would probably otherwise never receive. Each year, the Department of Transportation collects over $190 million from over 70,600,000 toll transactions on I-95 and SR 1. However, Delaware is owed over $143.4 million in toll debt from unpaid tolls, penalties, and fees from toll violations on these highways. The most recent 3-year average collection rate of toll debt is 8.4%. In addition, financial incentives can increase the voluntary payment of fines and high administrative fees and financial costs have a disparate impact on people who are poor and can discourage people from making payments towards their toll debt. Under state law, each toll violation results in an administrative fee of $25.00; a civil penalty of $25.00; and for violations that occurred after January 31, 2017, a $10.00 fee for the Volunteer Ambulance Company Fund and a $15.00 fee for the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes. In addition, a civil penalty surcharge of $12.50 is added for each toll violation that remains unpaid after 42 days. Thus, a driver who fails to pay a $1.00 toll is initially assessed $51.00 in toll debt, which increases to $88.50 if it is not paid within an additional 42 days. The Amnesty Program is structured to collect at least as much revenue as Delaware collects annually in toll debt that is in collections. Toll violations that occurred on I-95 and SR 1 between January 1, 2014 through April 30, 2020 are eligible for the Amnesty Program and notice of the Amnesty Program will be provided to each person with eligible toll debt. The Amnesty Program will operate for 3 months. The Amnesty Program will not apply retroactively. To satisfy toll debt under the Amnesty Program, a person must pay the full amount of the tolls owed and an amnesty fee. The amnesty fee reduces the amount due from fees and penalties and is established under this Senate Joint Resolution in amounts based upon the number of toll violations included in the toll debt. For example, a person with 9 toll violations can satisfy their $796.50 toll debt by paying $69.00 and a person with 496 toll violations can satisfy their $43,896.00 toll debt by paying $1,306.00. Instead of a flat fee per violation, the Volunteer Ambulance Company Fund and the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes will each receive a portion of each amnesty fee that is collected during the Amnesty Program, and it is anticipated that each fund will receive a total payment that is equal to or greater than the amount these funds would anticipate receiving through the regular collections process.

This Act requires the Delaware Health Information Network (“DHIN”) to provide the Gift of Life program – the State’s approved organ procurement organization, or “OPO” – with access to data on potential anatomical donors when the data is needed to determine the suitability for organ, tissue and eye donation for any purpose identified in Delaware’s Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. This Act is the result of the 2019 report of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's task force under Senate Resolution No. 9 of the 150th General Assembly.

Chiropractic care is a drugless system of health care. It is uniquely positioned as a treatment for back pain and chronic headaches, which a peer-reviewed medical journal has indicated are alarming drivers of opioid-related deaths. Other peer-reviewed studies have indicated that chiropractic physician care reduces opioid usage rates, costs significantly less than the opioid treatment path, and contributes to preventing addiction and overdose death. In Delaware, back problems are a top-three cost driver and are among the most common conditions resulting in disability and lost productivity. This Act helps to address these issues in Delaware and improves access for Delawareans seeking opioid-free treatment by ensuring chiropractors are reimbursed at least at the level of Medicare and not at historically persistent lower rates.

This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee’s (“JLOSC”) 2019 review of the Delaware Advisory Council on Career and Technical Education (“DACCTE”), and adds a requirement to DACCTE’s annual report to provide students and families access to information regarding educational, employment, and training opportunities.

This Act is the result of the 2019 report of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee’s task force under Senate Resolution No. 9 of the 150th General Assembly, which recommended permitting the Delaware Health Information Network (“DHIN”) to use clinical healthcare data in its possession for appropriate analytic and public health purposes. This Act largely tracks current law regarding the use of health care claims data that DHIN holds. It requires DHIN to promulgate regulations to permit appropriate health-care payers, providers, purchasers, or researchers to access clinical data in DHIN’s possession under terms and conditions that DHIN and its Board of Directors establish. This Act maintains and enhances language that requires DHIN to disclose individually-identifiable patient information only with direct patient consent or for purposes permitted by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and associated regulations (“HIPAA”). This Act also provides additional protections to consumers, by codifying DHIN’s general practice of providing Delaware residents with access to their own health information and requiring DHIN to promulgate regulations giving residents the ability to require DHIN to provide that health information to third parties under appropriate terms and conditions. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.