This Act extends the Clean Air Act Title V Operating Permit Program annual fees for facilities in Delaware. This Act was developed through the Title V Operating Permit Program Advisory Committee. The existing statutory authorization for the fees sunsets December 31, 2017. The fees are based on the number of staff hours spent on permitting, compliance, and enforcement for each facility and the facility’s air emissions. This Act authorizes the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to collect annual fees for calendar years 2018 through 2020 at which point the authority sunsets. This Act also removes previous language and requirements to complete a Title V Operating Permit Program Management Review. The program management review was completed and a final report was issued in April 2017. This Act also makes a technical correction to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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This Act fulfills recommendations made by the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee. First, this Act adds language to establish the circumstances under which Trustees of the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Foundation may be removed, using language standard to boards and commissions in this State. Second, this Act limits review of a preservation easement after 25 years of the easement's acquisition to only easements that were acquired before the enactment of this Act. Preservation easements acquired after the enactment of this Act are not subject to termination under § 917 of Title 3. Third, this Act corrects an internal reference, and makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility care services, including in vitro fertilization ("IVF") procedures for persons, who along with their partner, suffer from a disease or condition that results in the inability to procreate or to carry a pregnancy to viability. Like all other diseases, infertility should be covered by insurance. According to the National Infertility Association, RESOLVE, infertility affects 1 in 8 couples and 1 in 4 cannot afford treatment. Everyone deserves the right to procreate. Right now, many Delaware families diagnosed with infertility fall into a “coverage gap” and pay out-of-pocket for fertility care services. Only certain employers provide any fertility care coverage in Delaware and many of these plans provide very limited coverage. Families generally must pay high co-pays or adhere to service restrictions and lifetime dollar caps that strictly limit their treatment options, and thus make it unaffordable for many of them to proceed without risking their financial security or without achieving a successful pregnancy. For example, 1 IVF cycle can cost between $15,000 and $25,000 and, on average, it takes 2 to 3 cycles to achieve pregnancy. Additionally, highly inflated managed care pharmacy prices for IVF medications, where families with coverage can pay as much as 100% more for medications compared to prices charged to self-pay families, often contribute to 25-50% or more of total IVF costs, which can quickly drain lifetime caps and severely limit overall IVF care options. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 15 states currently have laws requiring insurance coverage for infertility diagnosis or treatment, including 2 states that border Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. This puts the State at a significant competitive disadvantage, as many reproductive age residents intentionally change employers and leave Delaware to gain more attractive fertility care benefits. It is also well-documented that individuals who self-pay for IVF procedures, or have limited benefits, often demand that 2 or more embryos be transferred to their uterus. This is a dangerous and costly approach for heavily burdened health care resources, and can be completely avoided, with greater access to covered fertility care services. This Act require insurers to cover fertility care services based on the latest IVF technologies to increase pregnancy success rates for singleton births at the lowest possible costs. This will greatly reduce the risk of multiple births and greatly reduce hospital and health care costs, thus saving employers money. Several recent studies have found that the cost of perinatal and neonatal care for twins is about $100,000, whereas singleton pregnancies cost about $13,000. Triplet pregnancies can cost $400,000 or more. For every 100 pregnancies from IVF that are singletons (but could have been twins), about $8.7 million dollars is saved, on top of reduced pain and suffering for parents and premature babies. This Act would significantly reduce this high financial and societal burden, with the promotion of IVF technologies that exclusively use single-embryo transfers. This Act could increase the number of persons treated for infertility, but also increase the number of babies born in Delaware by 2-300 per year, thus increasing the state’s birth rate by 1-2% and providing a boost to the local economy, while also decreasing health care costs.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes June 2017 as LGBTQ Pride Month in the State of Delaware.
This Act provides judicial economy in the disposition of Driving Under the Influence (“DUI”) offenses by providing a trial for misdemeanor DUI offenses only in the Court of Common Pleas. This Act permits the Justice of the Peace Court to accept guilty pleas and first offender elections. This Act also requires that any offense properly joined with a DUI offense remains so joined for the purpose of trial. Under current Delaware law, all cases are initiated in the Justice of the Peace Court for the purposes of setting bail. On June 30, 2017, the State’s ability to transfer these cases, provided by House Bill 277 of the 147th General Assembly, sunsets. Thereafter, in matters over which the Justice of the Peace and the Court of Common Pleas have concurrent jurisdiction, only the defendant has a statutory right and mechanism (11 Del. C. § 5303) to transfer to the Court of Common Pleas. A single track for the disposition of DUI offenses also provides a mechanism for all DUI offenders to be considered for the specialized, treatment-focused post-adjudication “DUI Court” in the Court of Common Pleas.
This Act authorizes a court to impose as a condition of bail that a person charged with misdemeanor Driving Under the Influence not be permitted to drive a vehicle. This Act also allows the Justice of the Peace Court to retain jurisdiction to impose, modify and enforce bail conditions for misdemeanor Driving Under the Influence offenders even after the case is transferred to the Court of Common Pleas for trial. This Act further authorizes the Justice of the Peace Court to impose bail conditions including abstinence from alcohol or drugs and monitoring necessary to ensure compliance with such condition.
This Act removes the prohibition against receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (“TANF” also referred to by the name Aid for Families with Dependent Children or “AFDC”) funds by persons convicted of a drug felony, so long as that person is otherwise eligible or TANF assistance. Even though federal laws such as PRWORA passed during the War on Drugs frequently prohibited access to public assistance for persons with drug felonies, these laws also gave states flexibility in determining eligibility for food aid and cash assistance for families with children when applicants had a criminal conviction. The majority of states have limited the federal bans in whole or in part. In 2011, Delaware opted out of restrictions on food aid, but it has not opted out of or limited federal restrictions on TANF—the cash assistance program that is the principal form of assistance available to most families in poverty to pay for things like electricity bills or school supplies. Under existing law, individuals convicted of any state or federal drug felony, including possession of marijuana (which can be a felony under federal law), are ineligible for TANF for life. Although the children of a parent convicted of a drug crime can still receive assistance, the family’s overall award is significantly reduced, and in practice this affects the well-being of families and children.
This Resolution recognizes June 27, 2017, as “Staff Appreciation Day” in the Delaware State Senate.
This Act authorizes the Family Court to interview a child outside the presence of the parties for the purpose of obtaining the child's testimony and ascertaining the truth of a matter asserted by a party to a Protection from Abuse proceeding. The Court may permit counsel to be present during the interview and ask the child questions. The Court may also permit a party who is not present for the interview to submit questions of fact for the Court to use in interviewing the child. Interviews under this Act must be made a part of the record.
Advance deposit wagering (“ADW”) has been the only growing segment of the pari-mutuel industry for more than a decade, is practiced nationwide especially in all of our surrounding states, and has been practiced by Delaware residents without authority or regulation, providing no contribution to the State’s racing industry. This Amendment provides for proceeds of advance deposit wagering that is conducted in the state to be used to support and improve the horse racing industry in Delaware by improving purses, supporting breeding, and ensuring that the industry is adequately regulated for the protection of all participants.