Rep. Debra Heffernan

This act provides greater flexibility for County and Municipal governments to enter into public-private partnerships for public lands. These agreements provide opportunities for the preservation of public land and limit the amount of government money required to maintain the land. This act is intended to abrogate the restrictions on permitted uses for public land, including public parks, held in a public trust as provided in the common law, including the restrictions set forth in Anderson v. Mayor and Council of Wilmington. 137 A.2d 521 (Del. Ch. 1958) and City of Wilmington v. Lord. 332 A.2d 414 (Del. Ch. 1975). aff'd, 378 A.3d 635 (Del. 1977).

This Act requires long-term care facilities to offer the influenza vaccine to all employees with direct contact with patients. It also requires the facility to keep a record of a signed statement from each employee that the vaccine has been offered.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, an estimated 42% of all face-to-face contact between individuals and law-enforcement officers occurred during a traffic stop. This Act requires the Department of Transportation (“Department”) to examine applicants for a driver’s license regarding their knowledge related to traffic stops by law-enforcement officers by including at least 2 questions on the subject in any examination given to applicants. This Act also charges the Department of Justice and the Office of Defense Services with collaborating to produce information to educate applicants regarding traffic stops by law-enforcement officers, which the Department must include in any document designed to educate applicants on the rules for driving a motor vehicle. Also, this Act makes clear that students in a State-approved driver education course must demonstrate knowledge related to traffic stops by law-enforcement officers. Also, this Act requires defensive driving courses approved by the Department to educate individuals in these courses on traffic stops by law-enforcement officers and to examine these individuals in the subject by including at least 2 questions on the subject in any examination given to the individuals. In addition, this Act takes effect on August 1, 2019, to provide time to implement its requirements. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Conversion therapy is a practice or treatment that seeks to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity, including any effort to change behaviors or gender expressions or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same gender. Conversion therapy has been rejected by all mainstream medical and mental health organizations, and there is no credible evidence that it is effective. Moreover, this practice poses enormous health risks to LGBTQ youth, including an increased sense of shame, guilt, hopelessness, stress, and anger, thus increasing the risk of anxiety, depression, and self-harm. The harm done by conversion therapy can last well into adulthood. Therefore, this Act makes it unprofessional conduct or a ground for discipline for individuals granted a certificate to practice medicine under Chapter 17 of Title 24 or licensed under Chapter 19 of Title 24 (regarding nurses), Chapter 30 of Title 24 (regarding mental health and chemical dependency professionals), Chapter 35 of Title 24 (regarding psychologists), and Chapter 39 of Title 24 (regarding clinical social work examiners) to engage in conversion therapy with a child or to refer a child to a practitioner in another jurisdiction to receive conversion therapy. This Act also prevents the Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families from engaging in conversion therapy with a child or recommending that a child receive conversion therapy. Additionally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act restores the Delaware Prescription Drug Payment Assistance Program (“Program”), which was eliminated in the Fiscal Year 2018 Annual Appropriations Act. This Act replaces Senate Bill 148 and makes the following additional changes: (1) Delays implementation of the Act until January 1, 2019, to coordinate with the Medicare Part D benefit year to enable the Department of Health and Social Services (“Department”) to make necessary system changes. (2) Makes changes to the defined term “prescription drugs.” (3) Removes provisions required to be included in rules and regulations promulgated by the Department. (4) Adds provisions that may be included in rules and regulations promulgated by the Department. (5) Makes technical corrections to conform the provisions of the restored Program to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill allows children under the age of 18 to be transferred to the Department of Corrections only after adjudication and an imposition of a sentence of incarceration. Currently, Delaware permits juveniles charged with adult offenses to be held in default of bail in the custody of the Department of Corrections. The trend nationwide is to hold juveniles charged with adult offenses in juvenile facilities pretrial as these facilities provide educational and rehabilitative programs.

This Act draws attention to the types of discipline used in schools by capturing data about out-of-school suspensions and publishing that data, in an effort to help schools identify areas where the data regarding out-of-school suspensions indicates there is room to reduce such suspensions. This Act is meant to increase transparency, improve overall school climate, resulting in improved student outcomes. The collection and publication of this data will also help the Department of Education and community partners identify opportunities to provide greater supports to schools, students, and their families. According to data provided by the Delaware Department of Education (“DOE”), thousands of Delaware students receive out-of-school suspensions each year for minor infractions, such as being unprepared or late for class, dress code violations, and disrespectful behavior. In 2013, only 2% of out-of-school suspensions were for serious offenses such as weapons, drugs, or serious violence. Out-of-school suspensions do not address the root causes for the misbehavior, and only serve to put the students further behind in class. Furthermore, DOE data shows that, in 2013, African-American students made up only 32% of the student body, but accounted for 62% of out-of-school suspension, and students with disabilities made up 13% of the student body, but accounted for 24% of out-of-school suspensions. Federal discipline guidance, developed jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, instructs schools to commit to regular evaluation of school discipline policies and practices, and monitor progress toward the schools’ climate and discipline goals. The federal process requires schools to collect and publicly report disaggregated student discipline data and solicit feedback from students, staff, families, and community representatives. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the guidelines of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Substitute Bill makes the following changes to Senate Bill No. 85: 1. References the existing definition of "disruptive behavior" in Title 14. 2. Includes "disability" as a category for data collection. 3. Extends by 1 year the years stated in the requirements to retain the same time frames. This is necessary because this Act will be enacted in 2018, not 2017 when it was drafted. 4. Clarifies what information is required for reports and provides deadlines for the required plans and reports. 5. Clarifies that schools must develop plans and strategies with stakeholder input. 6. Clarifies content for professional development.

This Act allows the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to lease historic structures on State public lands to individuals or corporate entities. The lessee would be required to renovate and maintain the structure up to the applicable National Park Service Secretary of Interior Standards, would be permitted to insure the property and are eligible for Land and Historic Resource Tax Credits. DNREC is required adopt any necessary rules and regulations to implement the Act and may require the lessee to abide by any other lease conditions or commitments, including specific expenditure requirements, which the DNREC deems advisable for the public good. This Act will ensure that DNREC has the authority to enter into curatorship agreements for historic properties in grave need of restoration. It clarifies that DNREC’s Resident Curatorship program which has operated for over a decade is not in conflict with Delaware Landlord Tenant Code and allows for private investment that will revert to the State of Delaware at the conclusion of the agreement. Currently there are four historic Delaware State Park properties available through the program to potential curators and the program has saved three historic structures through curatorship’s at Lums Pond, Cape Henlopen and Fort DuPont State Parks.

The Public Service Commission conducts an annual review of the process by which Delmarva Power obtains electricity to deliver to its customers. With 100% of supply coming from market based auctions, there has been little need to continue the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) planning process. Under current legislation, Delmarva Power must conduct a complete IRP every two years. The IRP, while helpful in exploring possible changes in long term approaches to electric supply, is an expensive process, the cost of which is added to utility rates. This Bill extends the filing time for future IRP’s to those occasions when Delmarva Power elects to make a significant change in its source of electric supply or as the Commission may direct. This will reduce the customer costs to complete an IRP every two years, along with Commission time and effort for review.

Birth control use is nearly universal among women of reproductive age in the United States and is a key part of preventative health care for women. Access to birth control provides health benefits for women and children, improves women's ability to control whether and when they have a child, and fosters women's ability to participate in education and the workforce. However, the cost of birth control, particularly the higher up-front costs of the more effective, longer-acting birth control methods, is often a barrier to women accessing the birth control they need. This Act codifies the current federal requirement that health insurance plans include coverage for contraceptives and applies this requirement to individual, group, State employee, and public assistance plans. This Act retains the current ability for religious employers to exclude coverage for the insertion and removal and medically necessary examination associated with the use of FDA-approved drugs or devices.