Sen. Stephanie Hansen

This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's review of the Technology Investment Council ("TIC"). This Act updates TIC's statute to further streamline operations and prevent redundancies, and to make technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act is the product of collaboration with TIC, the Department of Technology and Information, and other stakeholders.

This bill increases the amount of the tax credit for active members of volunteer fire, ambulance and rescue service companies and their auxiliaries from $500 to $1,000.

This bill is the Community Workforce Agreement Act. It requires that all large public works construction projects, utilizing state funds, are to be governed by a Community Workforce Agreement with labor organizations engaged in the construction industry to provide structure and stability and promote efficient completion.

Since the creation of the Delaware Heritage Greenway Council in 1992 which then became the Delaware Council on Greenways and Trails, creation and maintenance of greenways and trails have become an important part of the mission of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and especially its parks system. This bill merges the work of the Council on Greenways and Trails with the Parks Advisory Council to formally join their efforts. The two councils already collaborate on the Outdoor Recreation Parks and Trails grant program. This bill expands the Parks Advisory Council and adds trails and greenways as a background sought for some parks council members, and also adds representatives from the General Assembly which the Council on Greenways and Trails has had but the Parks Advisory Council does not currently have. This bill also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act allows the Delaware Standardbred Breeder’s Fund Board to promulgate rules and regulations necessary or appropriate to implement or clarify the statutes related to the Standardbred Breeder’s Fund Program.

This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's ("JLOSC") review of Adult Protective Services ("APS"). In the process of the review, and with APS's agreement, JLOSC recommended eliminating the Adult Protective Services Advisory Council under § 3903 of Title 31 and absorbing that council's role into the Council on Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities. This Act makes the required changes to the Council on Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities. The APS Advisory Council is removed from Title 31 in separate legislation. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill does all of the following relating to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. First, it adds the Chief Magistrate of the Justice of the Peace Court to the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council. Second, it removes the limitations on the use of voting by proxy by members of the Council. These limitations are unnecessary because § 2104(f) provides that the Council promulgate rules of procedure governing its operations so long as they are in accordance with Chapters 100 and 101 of Title 29. Thus, the Council, not the statute, should determine the rules necessary to govern its own operations. Finally, the bill adds the Fatal Incident Review Team of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council to the list of entities that are entitled to receive protected health information without informed consent. The protected health information at issue is essential for the Fatal Incident Review Team to review. Due to federal law, certain providers are prohibited from providing such information even with a subpoena. However, these providers can provide the protected health information if the statute specifically permits such protected health information to be disclosed without informed consent.

The Bill expands the availability of free feminine hygiene products at all public and charter schools.

This Act requires Delaware to use the Wireless Emergency Alert (“WEA”) system to notify the public of emergency alerts and requires that the emergency alert system be used when a catastrophic release occurs. A catastrophic release is a major uncontrolled emission, fire, or explosion that presents an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health. This Act also requires that emergency alerts be broadcast in Spanish, in addition to English, when possible. The WEA system is a federal public safety system, currently used by the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA), that allows customers who own mobile devices to receive geographically targeted, text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area. Delaware still uses reverse 911 notifications to landline phones for environmental hazards, but only 6.5% of U.S. households use landlines as their only form of phone communication. In contrast, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that during the first 6 months of 2020, 62.5% of adults and 73.8% of children lived in wireless-only households. To ensure that Delaware’s cell phone users receive WEA alerts, DEMA asked cell phone users to manually register their cell phones with the Delaware Emergency Notification System ("DENS") to receive WEA notifications. After numerous years of marketing campaigns, and encouragement from public officials, private entities, and advocacy groups, only 3% of Delawareans have manually registered their cell phones with the Delaware Emergency Notification System to receive wireless emergency alerts. In addition, because the WEA system targets geographic areas, emergency alerts are sent to all wireless devices with service provided by participating carriers. Thus, emergency alerts are provided to wireless devices in the geographic area affected by the hazard, regardless of whether people register their phones, live in the area, or have phone numbers with a local area code. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more and more popular. Between 2012 and 2016, EV sales grew at an annual rate 32%. In 2017, growth in sales reached 45%. Batteries for EVs have become much cheaper in the last 10 years, enabling EVs to compete with traditional, fossil-fueled vehicles. In addition, major vehicle manufacturers are pledging to go all electric. Some researchers are predicting that EV sales will outnumber those of traditional, combustion engine vehicles by 2040. However, only minimal electrical charging infrastructure is available today. Like Senate Bill No. 187, this Substitute will make it easier and more convenient to own an electric vehicle in this State in the years to come, resulting in increased purchases of electric vehicles, promoting cleaner air and water, and resulting in improved health outcomes for Delawareans and a reduction of greenhouse gases to curtail global warming. Specifically, like Senate Bill No. 187, this Substitute achieves these ends by requiring municipalities with a population of 30,000 or more to develop a procedure to obtain permission for the installation of an electric vehicle charging station on real property zoned for residential use that abuts a residential street. This Substitute differs from Senate Bill No. 187 as follows: (1) By removing the requirement that an ordinance adopted by a municipality establish the qualifications required by the licensed electrician who installs an electric vehicle charging station. (2) By clarifying that a municipality may not require an individual owner of real property to install an electric vehicle charging station for another person, including a tenant, guest, or customer, unless the requirement is adopted as part of a municipal zoning or building code that is of general applicability. This Substitute Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a municipal charter, whether directly, by amendment to a specific municipality’s charter, or, as in this Act, indirectly, by a general law.