Rep. Danny Short

This Bill requires motor vehicle insurance policies, under the personal injury protection provisions (PIP), to provide coverage for up to $500 per injured person extricated from a motor vehicle by an emergency medical services vehicle. Emergency medical services vehicle is a vehicle duly licensed in Delaware that deploys rescue tools used by emergency rescue personnel to extricate the injured person from a vehicle. The Act also requires the Insurance commissioner to develop a uniform billing form for reimbursement and that volunteer fire and ambulance companies submit financial reports regarding expenses incurred in the use of rescue tools to the State Fire Prevention Commission.

This bill requires the Department of Health and Social Services to create a vaccination risk assessment form to be used by veterinarians for dog, cat, and ferret vaccinations. An abbreviated form would be allowed for mass vaccination of pets events.

The language set forth in this statute would remove barriers for inmates who are students with disabilities and who have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) under state and federal law, when being considered for parole or a sentence modification. Requiring an inmate with an IEP to complete a GED or State of Delaware High School Diploma is counter-productive to the treatment and programming of this segment of the prison population and prohibits them from seeking the same benefits of parole or sentence modification afforded to those inmates who do not have an IEP. This amendment to the law allows an inmate the opportunity to earn a State of Delaware Diploma of Alternate Achievement Standards upon successful completion of the inmate's IEP.

This Act is designed to centralize and modernize Delaware’s system for licensing its citizens to carry concealed deadly weapons. The current statutory scheme dates as far back as the Code Revision of 1974 and was not designed to handle the volume of applicants and licensees that are being experienced today, a volume that has at times unfairly overwhelmed both the Courts and the Office of the Attorney General. In 2016, alone, the Attorney General was required to conduct 8,522 background investigations, a volume level never envisioned by the General Assembly in 1974, and a volume which, over the years has placed increasingly unsustainable demands upon both the Superior Court and the Attorney General. As importantly, this ever-increasing volume of applicants and license renewals and the system’s inability to respond in a timely manner has led to a volume of complaints from those who have been forced to wait up to eight months for their applications to be fully processed in the current system. This Act is designed to relieve the current pressures on the Superior Court and the Office of the Attorney General by creating a small, centralized, and financially self-sustaining organization within state government designed specifically to administer the licensing of individuals to lawfully carry concealed deadly weapons; and, for the first time, to effectually license and regulate the instructors who provide the statutorily required training for such individuals. Section 1 of the Act creates the Delaware Commission on Concealed Carry Licensing and provides for the professional staff and procedural mechanisms for licensing persons to carry concealed deadly weapons. The Commission is also charged with licensing and regulating the Personal Protection Firearms Instructors who provide the statutorily mandated training for concealed carry licensees. By creating an organization dedicated solely to these tasks, the Act is also (1) able to eliminate the current single date expiration system which is responsible for at least some of the current backlog, and allows for licenses to expire and renewals to be processed on a year-round basis; and (2) ensure that the required training is delivered according to statutory standards by instructors who have qualified to deliver that training. Section 2 of the Act amends the concealed carry statute to transfer responsibility for concealed carry licensing from the Superior Court and the Attorney General to the Commission on Concealed Carry Licensing created in Section 1 of the Act. This section also attempts to enhance language in the existing statute. This section also increases the application fees for concealed carry applicants from $65 to $95 for initial applications and $75 for renewals. The section also establishes a fee of $100 for each issuance of a temporary license. It also allows for the licensing of those residents of contiguous states who regularly work in Delaware and who are already licensed by their home state to be separately licensed in Delaware under the same strict criteria required of Delaware residents, establishing an initial application fee for such individuals of $150 and a renewal fee of $100. Section 2 also addresses the issue of concealed carry reciprocity; clarifying the recognition process and ensuring Delaware residents may not circumvent Delaware’s licensing process by utilizing non-resident licenses from other states with which Delaware has reciprocity. Finally, Section 2 makes a clear statement that currently employed law enforcement officers are exempt from the licensing requirements that pertain to other citizens. Section 2 also extends the period of time retiring law enforcement officers have to avail themselves of the existing streamlined licensing regime available to such officers from 90 days to 180 days. Section 3 of the Act allows for the establishment of the Commission and a period of time for the Commission to be fully staffed and operational before transferring authority and responsibilities from the Courts and the Attorney General to the Commission.

This concurrent resolution thanks the Career and Technical Student Organizations for their presentation of geraniums. This concurrent resolution also extends the General Assembly's best wished for continued success to these exemplary students.

This Resolution recognizes Delaware's Byways Program as one of the best ways to experience Delaware's beauty.

This Act requires the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to direct 35% of the funds from the auction of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative CO2 allowances to the Sustainable Energy Utility and 30% of the funds to the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council. This Act then requires the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council to develop and recommend projects to the General Assembly that are to be funded by these funds, consistent with § 8011(e) of Title 29. This Act further requires that these funds be expended only as authorized by the annual bond and capital improvement act or other act of the General Assembly. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Modeled after legislation passed in New Jersey on August 8, 2013, this legislation prohibits a person named on the federal terrorist watchlist from purchasing, owning, possessing or controlling a deadly weapon or ammunition for a firearm within the State.

This Act places a constitutional limitation on base general fund operating appropriations. However, appropriations deemed as emergencies involving the health, safety, or welfare of the citizens of the State that are approved by three-fifths of the members elected to each House of the General Assembly are not included in the limitation.

This Act establishes an Educational Support Professional of the year award program throughout the State. Through this legislation, the state will formally honor and recognize the work educational support professionals, such as paraprofessionals, food service workers, custodians, and secretaries do to enhance school communities in Delaware.