Rep. Ruth Briggs King

This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to provide for equal rights. This amendment would advance human dignity and equality for all under the Delaware Constitution, and would correct a constitutional shortcoming. It subjects unequal treatment arising from historical bias to strict scrutiny, and enables courts in Delaware to establish jurisprudence concerning equal rights violations under State law reflecting Delaware values.

This Act more effectively and efficiently clarifies the enforcement authority of the Department of Agriculture regarding livestock at large. The offenses will now be civil penalties rather than criminal fines, expenses for impoundment will be reimbursed by the violator, and other sources of media can be used to give public notice of impoundment or sale of any livestock at large. This Act is intended to penalize repeat offenders that knowingly let their livestock run at large.

This bill provides that civil violations or penalties under subchapters IV and V of Delaware’s Uniform Controlled Substances Act in Title 16 are included as offenses whereby a $15 penalty is assessed for the Fund to Combat Violent Crimes.

This bill vests the authority for regulating seed in Delaware with the Delaware Department of Agriculture and repeals any inconsistent act or parts of acts.

This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to provide for equal protection. This amendment would advance human dignity and equality for all under the Delaware Constitution, and would correct a constitutional shortcoming. It subjects unequal treatment based on discrimination to strict scrutiny, and enables courts in Delaware to establish jurisprudence concerning equal rights violations under State law reflecting Delaware values. Currently, while the federal and many state constitutions afford equal protection, Delaware’s constitution fails to do so.

This Act inserts additional language to clarify that a qualified voter must be 18 years of age on or before the date of the election a vote is to be cast.

This bill provides Statewide consistency in the law that protects the public from dangerous dogs and clarifies that dogs may not be held potentially dangerous or dangerous for animal control enforcement or for purposes of criminal liability based solely on breed-specific criteria. Findings to deem a dog dangerous will be based on actions of the dog, or an individualized demonstration of vicious behavior. It also prohibits municipalities from enacting breed-specific ordinances or regulations. The bill deletes outdated references to the now-defunct Dog Control Panel and replaces them with reference to the Justice of the Peace Court procedure laid out in Chapter 30F of Title 16.

This bill creates a special license plate for emergency medical services professionals.

This Act would enhance the ability of the prescription monitoring program to make informed determinations as to prescribers who may be making extraordinary prescriptions of opiates or other controlled substances, and to refer such cases to law enforcement or professional licensing organizations for further review. The Act would also provide a more usable standard for provision of specified information to law enforcement agencies upon a showing of need.

In an effort to reduce overdose deaths relating to the growing epidemic of opioid addiction, this Act requires carriers to provide coverage for medically necessary inpatient treatment of alcohol and drug dependencies and prohibits carriers from imposing precertification, prior authorization, pre-admission screening, or referral requirements for the diagnosis and treatment, including in-patient treatment, of drug and alcohol dependencies. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.