Sen. Nicole Poore

This Act is the second leg of a constitutional amendment to add race, color, and national origin to § 21 of Article I of the Delaware Constitution to explicitly declare that protection against discrimination based on race, color, and national origin is one of Delaware's fundamental rights. The first leg of this constitutional amendment was Senate Bill 191 of the 150th General Assembly, published in Chapter 287 of Volume 82 of the Laws of Delaware. On passage of this second leg by this General Assembly this amendment will become part of the Delaware Constitution. Since the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, with Delaware ratifying it in 1901, at least 15 states have added a provision to their state constitution that prohibits the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on race, color, or national origin. In 2019, Delaware amended the state constitution to prohibit the denial or abridgement of equal rights under the law based on sex, but no such prohibition exists as to race, color, or national origin. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when the General Assembly amends the Delaware Constitution.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution declares that gun violence is a public health crisis, that ending the gun violence devastating Delaware is a policy priority, and supporting policy and legislative solutions that will make schools safe, confront armed hate and extremism, prevent suicide, and center and support survivors of gun violence.

This resolution honors Vice President-elect Kamala D. Harris for her service and dedication to the United States of America and the inspiration she provides to women and people of color, and offers appreciation and support for her historic Vice Presidency.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution proclaims January 23, 2021, as "Maternal Health Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware.

This bill requires that inadvertent out-of-network services be included in individual and group health insurance policies as well as group and blank health insurance policies. This bill defines inadvertent out-of-network services are those services that are covered under a policy or contract of health insurances, but are provided by an out-of-network provider in an in-network facility, or when in-network health care services are unavailable or not made available to the insured in the facility. Inadvertent out-of-network services also includes laboratory testing ordered by an in-network provider but performed by an out-of-network laboratory.

A placard must be prominently displayed at all entrances of massage and bodywork establishments that have failed to obtain a valid license or have a license that is suspended, revoked, or expired. This bill provides that no placard can be removed unless the establishment is validly licensed and the removal of the placard is approved by the Division of Professional Regulation. This bill makes the unlawful removal of the placard a Class A misdemeanor, punishable of up to 1 year in jail and up to a $2300 fine.

This Act is the final leg of a constitutional amendment that would eliminate from the Delaware Constitution the limitations as to when an individual may vote by absentee ballot. This amendment to the Delaware Constitution provides that the General Assembly shall enact general laws providing the circumstances, rules, and procedures for absentee voting.

This Act removes the requirement that applicants for a marriage license state their race as part of the application process. Delaware is one of a small number of states that currently requires this information. In October 2019, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that requiring marriage license applicants to provide their race violates the United States Constitution. In Delaware, the Clerks of the Peace, who are the points of data collection, have expressed support for this Act, as has the Office of Vital Statistics in the Department of Health and Social Services. The National Center for Health Statistics ("NCHS") has not requested detailed information from states regarding marriage and divorce since 1996. NCHS only requires states to provide the total number of marriages that occur each month.

This Act adopts the Uniform Civil Remedies for Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Images Act. This Act addresses an increasingly common form of abuse that can cause severe and often irreversible harm: the disclosure of private, sexually explicit images without consent. Much of the abuse is carried out electronically through internet websites, social media, email, or text messages, making it an interstate problem that is particularly suited for treatment by uniform state laws. This Act provides a uniform, comprehensive, clear, fair, and constitutionally sound definition of this harmful conduct and remedies for the harm it causes. Some intimate images disclosed without consent were originally created with consent or obtained within a confidential relationship. In other cases, the images were originally created or obtained without consent through surreptitious recording devices or other forms of voyeurism, or through theft, computer hacking, coercion, bribery, fraud, or force. Like many existing privacy laws, this Act applies only to sensitive content created or obtained under circumstances in which the individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Also similar to existing privacy laws, the Act includes limited exceptions for certain disclosures, including those made in the course of law enforcement, legal proceedings or education, medical treatment, or investigations of misconduct. This Act also includes an exception for disclosures relating to matters of public concern or public interest and disclosures reasonably intended to assist the victim. The Act further notes federal statutory limitations on the liability of providers and users of interactive computer services. The Act is narrowly drafted to avoid imposing liability on a discloser who lacks the requisite awareness of any of these elements: (1) that the image was created or obtained under circumstances in which the individual had a reasonable expectation of privacy or that the image was obtained through theft, bribery, false pretenses, voyeurism, or other wrongful acts, (2) that the individual shown in the image did not consent to the disclosure, or (3) that the individual shown was identifiable.

This Act would both raise the jurisdictional limit of the Justice of the Peace Court to $25,000 and allow Justice of the Peace to consider claims in excess of the jurisdictional limit where the underlying matter involves a commercial tenancy and possession of the rental unit is at issue. Currently, if a party is owed rent in excess of the jurisdictional limit they must either submit to the jurisdictional limit of the Court and forego the portion of the claim which exceeds the jurisdictional limit or bifurcate the case, filing both for possession in the Justice of the Peace Court and a debt action in a court of competent jurisdiction. While this Act would increase efficiency in terms of allowing one court to consider all aspects of the case it would in no way preclude a party from bifurcating the action if they chose to do so.