This Act provides state employees 30, rather than 15, days of paid leave per year to attend training camp or serve special duty as ordered by the military reserves or Delaware National Guard.
This statutory addition to Delaware’s Wrongful Death Act will permit the spouse, parents, children, and siblings of a deceased person to recover punitive damages when the actions resulting in the death of another person were maliciously intended or the result of willful or wanton misconduct by the at fault party. Punitive damages are intended to deter the at fault party from future similar conduct and to punish the at fault party for reckless conduct. Presently, an estate can recover punitive damages under a survival action pursuant to 10 Del C. § 3701. A survival action involves the death of an individual as the result of the at fault party where that individual suffers for a period of time before dying. Whereas, a wrongful death action involves the instantaneous death of an individual as the result of the at fault party. This led to cases where the issue of whether a defendant faced punitive damages depended not on the defendant's own actions, but on whether the deceased had suffered long enough for a survival action. This Act also clarifies the definitions of "child" and "parent."
This Act revises Delaware’s child safety seat requirements which currently requires an “appropriate” car seat or booster. Under this Act, children under 2 years and under 30 pounds must be seated in a rear-facing seat with a 5-point harness. Children under 4 years and under 40 pounds must be seated in either a forward facing or rear-facing seat with a 5-point harness. Children between the ages of 4 and 16, must be seated in a booster based upon the manufacturer’s guidelines or a seatbelt. This Act removes the existing fine for the first offense and requests law enforcement to provide a referral to the Office of Highway Safety car seat fitting station for guidance and education regarding proper use of a child restraint. Under this Act, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security is required to implement an awareness campaign within 180 days of enactment. The remainder of the Act will not take effect until 1 year following its enactment.
This Act establishes requirements for the handling of treatment records for all of the following health-care providers under Title 24: 1. Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (certified nurse practitioners), Chapter 19. 2. Licensees under the Board of Mental Health and Chemical Dependency Professionals, Chapter 30: mental health professional counselors and associate counselors, chemical dependency professionals, marriage and family therapists, professional art therapists. 3. Psychologists, Chapter 35. 4. Licensed Clinical Social Workers, Chapter 39. Under current law, a patient or client does not have a right or clear procedure by which to obtain a copy of their record when one of these practitioners closes a practice, dies, terminates a patient relationship, or is incapacitated. The requirements established under this Act are modeled on the patient record requirements and procedures for physicians and correspond with the changes that would be enacted under House Bill No. 105 (152nd). These requirements and procedures also apply when a patient or client requests copies of their records. Under existing law, the governing boards established under these chapters have authority to promulgate regulations, if necessary, to address intersections between the requirements under this Act and professional codes of ethics. Sections 5 through 8 of this Act make technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and corrects the spelling of the word “health-care” to be consistent throughout these chapters.
This bill increases the amount of Compassionate Leave for eligible employees of the State upon the death of an immediate family member.
Speeding is a contributing factor in many serious injury motor vehicle crashes and roadway fatalities. This Act adds operating a motor vehicle at a speed of 90 miles an hour or more to the definition of reckless driving.
This Act increases the length of time for a valid temporary tag from 60 days to 90 days. This Act also adds a new provision requiring temporary tags be issued through a temporary tag system, approved by the Division of Motor Vehicles, to further reduce fraud in the issuance of temporary tags, unless the Division of Motor Vehicles determines the temporary tag issuer must continue using temporary registration plates.
According to the Mayo Clinic, miscarriages occur in about 20% of all pregnancies, and generally, in the first 12 weeks. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 out of every 100 American pregnancies ends in stillbirth. Black women have a significantly higher risk of miscarrying— 43% higher when compared to white women. Black mothers are also more than twice as likely to experience stillbirth compared to Hispanic and white mothers. This bill provides State employees who suffer a miscarriage, stillbirth or other loss, a maximum of 5 days of paid bereavement leave. This Act shall be known as the "Sloane Hajek Act of 2023".
This resolution affirms the importance of the recognition of LGBTQIA+ people and their many achievements and designates June 28. 2023 as "Stonewall Uprising Remembrance Day" in the State of Delaware. It also encourages expanded efforts to keep Delaware residents properly informed about the need for acceptance, and equitable treatment, of LGBTQIA+ individuals.
