Sen. Bryan Townsend

This Act requires an institution of higher education that receives funding from this State to keep and provide records for an elected or appointed official who is employed by the institution of higher education. The University of Delaware and Delaware State University are to comply with this Act for employees who are paid in whole or in part with State funds. If the State Auditor finds that an institution of higher education is knowingly in violation of this Act, the State Auditor may impose an administrative penalty on the institution of higher education and shall report the violation and amount of administrative penalty imposed to the Public Integrity Commission, Department of Justice, and the Office of the Controller General.

This bill adopts an inmate mailbox rule similar to the federal inmate mailbox rule. If a pro se inmate files an appeal while incarcerated, the date of filing will be counted as the date that that the inmate gave the appeal to the DOC officials for mailing rather than the date that the Courts receive the appeal.

Maddy summaryHouse Concurrent Resolution 59 is a commemorative resolution that honors the life and legacy of Harvey Milk. It also commemorates what would have been his 95th birthday on May 22, 2025.

This Act requires the Department of Health and Social Services to submit a Medicaid State Plan Amendment to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to be allowed to provide comprehensive dental benefits to Medicaid-eligible adults.

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes the historic sacrifices and ongoing contributions of Delaware's Direct Support Professionals serving vulnerable adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It also recognizes importance and expertise of Direct Support Professionals to our state and establishes May 20th as “Direct Support Professional” Advocacy Day sponsored by the Ability Network of Delaware and A-Team Delaware.

This House Concurrent Resolution recognizes and commends Project New Start for its invaluable contributions to criminal justice reform, reentry support, and community empowerment. It also urges continued legislative and financial support for Project New Start and similar evidence-based reentry programs as critical tools for building safer, more equitable communities.

This Act permits a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end the individual's life in a humane and dignified manner if both the individual's attending physician or attending advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and a consulting physician or consulting APRN agree on the individual's diagnosis and prognosis and believe the individual has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily. This Act is the same as House Bill No. 140 (152nd) with 1 technical revision to include a definition of "physician" for consistency and to clarify that a physician must be licensed in Delaware. This Act provides the following procedural safeguards: 1. No one may request medication to end life on behalf of another individual. 2. An individual cannot qualify for medication to end life under this chapter solely because of the individual's age or disability. A mental illness or mental health condition is not a qualifying condition under this Act and a mental illness or mental health condition may be the reason that an individual does not have decision-making capacity and is thus, ineligible for medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner. 3. Both the individual's attending physician or attending APRN and a consulting physician or consulting APRN must confirm that the individual has a terminal illness and a prognosis of 6 months or less to live, has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily. 4. The individual's attending physician or attending APRN must also provide specific disclosures to the individual to ensure that the individual is making an informed decision, including the presentation of all end of life options which include comfort care, palliative care, hospice care, and pain control. 5. The individual must be evaluated by a psychiatrist or a psychologist if either the attending or consulting physicians or APRNs are concerned that the individual lacks decision-making capacity. 6. The individual must complete a witnessed form requesting medication to end life and there are limitations on who can witness the signing of the form. 7. The attending physician or attending APRN must offer the individual the opportunity to rescind the request for medication to end life before writing a prescription for the medication. 8. Two waiting periods must pass before the attending physician or attending APRN may prescribe the medication to end life. 9. The attending physician or attending APRN must provide the qualified patient with instructions about the proper safe-keeping and disposal of unused medication to end life in a humane and dignified manner under applicable state or federal guidelines. The United States Food and Drug Administration guidelines include using a medication collection site or a medication disposal pouch, that deactivates and renders drugs ineffective. 10. An insurer or health-care provider may not deny or alter health-care benefits otherwise available to an individual based upon the availability of medication to end life or otherwise coerce or require a request for medication to end life as a condition of receiving care. 11. A health-care institution may prohibit a physician or APRN from prescribing medication under this Act on the health-care institution's premises and a physician or APRN may to refuse to prescribe medication under this Act. 12. A request or prescription for or the dispensing of medication under this Act does not constitute elder abuse, suicide, assisted-suicide, homicide, or euthanasia. 13. People acting in good faith and in accordance with generally accepted health-care standards under this Act have immunity, but those acting with negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct do not have criminal or civil immunity. 14. The Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) must develop rules and regulations to collect information regarding compliance with this Act and require health-care providers to file a report when medication to end life in a humane and dignified manner is prescribed or dispensed. DHSS may review samples of records maintained under this Act. The information DHSS collects must include the information necessary to assess a physician's or APRN's compliance with their responsibilities under this Act and DHSS has explicit authority to share information with the Division of Professional Regulation if DHSS suspects that a health-care provider failed to comply with the requirements under this Act. 15. DHSS must complete an annual statistical report of information collected under this Act, similar to public reports available in other states such as New Jersey where this end of life option is available. This report has the following purposes: • To assist the DHSS in its oversight responsibilities for this Act. • To assist the public in learning how well this new law is operating. 16. The Department of State may also promulgate regulations or develop forms and protocols necessary under this Act. 17. Allows the Office of Controlled Substances to provide reports of data in the prescription monitoring program to DHSS to assess compliance with this Act. This Act takes effect when final regulations required under this Act have been promulgated or January 1, 2026, whichever occurs earlier. This Act is known as "The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law" in memory of Ron Silverio and Heather Block, who were passionate advocates that passed away without this option becoming available to them.

There is a conflict in Delaware law related to determining whether the name of the husband who dies during the period between the creation of the embryo and placement of the embryo should or can be entered on the birth certificate as the father of the child conceived. Because of this conflict, this Act directs the State Registrar of Vital Statistics to immediately amend the birth certificate of the impacted individual, Levi Ryan Murray, to include the name of his father, Ryan Murray, on his birth certificate. This Act is necessary so that this child’s birth certificate can be completed while the General Assembly considers how to resolve this conflict in the law generally. The only difference between Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 119 and SB 119 is that SS 1 for SB 119 corrects a misspelling of “Murray”.

This Concurrent Resolution proclaims May 15, 2025, as "Home Care Advocacy Day" in Delaware to recognize the dedication and hard work of caregivers, to emphasize the critical importance of access to quality home care services for Delaware’s aging residents to live independently and age with dignity, and to advocate for policies and resources that support the delivery of high-quality, person-centered care in the home setting.

This Act allows an employee organization to file a petition with the Board to become the exclusive representative of an appropriate bargaining unit for the purpose of collective bargaining. In the event an employee organization provides over 50% of the employees’ approval, through their authorized signatures, then the Board may not order an election but must certify the employee organization. This Act also makes technical corrections to confirm existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.