This Act legalizes the sale and distribution of raw milk and products derived from raw milk by dairy producers directly to consumers for human consumption. This Act also removes the unused definitions of “Delaware fresh milk” and “northeastern fresh milk” from Subchapter VI of Title 3. The definition of “fresh milk” under current § 3175 of Title 3 is retained. The sale of raw milk, which is unprocessed, unpasteurized, and unhomogenized, is currently prohibited by Section 9 of the current United States Department of Health and Human Services' Grade "A" Pasteurized Milk Ordinance, as amended, which the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services adopted by regulation. However, consumers are increasingly demanding the opportunity to purchase raw milk in Delaware, rather than traveling to other states that permit raw milk sales. Allowing raw milk and products derived from raw milk to be sold in Delaware will respond to that demand while also providing new economic opportunities for Delaware dairy producers. These economic benefits can be significant; the Raw Milk Institute estimates that raw milk producers can earn a profit that is nearly 10 times what they earn for regular milk sales. To achieve these benefits and meet consumer demand, this Act creates a raw milk permit to be issued and enforced by the Department of Agriculture, and exempts raw milk permit holders from the State of Delaware Milk Code provided they comply with all requirements of the Act. This Act provides that no raw milk or product derived from raw milk may be sold in Delaware other than by a raw milk permit holder or an individual under the direct supervision of a raw milk permit holder, such as an employee. The sale or distribution of raw milk and products derived from raw milk must be made directly by the permit holder or individual under the supervision of the permit holder to the consumer and not for purposes of resale. This Act also establishes requirements for signage and labeling informing consumers that raw milk is unprocessed, unpasteurized, and unhomogenized and may contain harmful bacteria. The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Health and Social Services, is responsible for promulgating regulations to administer the raw milk permit program and for ensuring compliance with this Act. This Act goes into effect on enactment and is to be implemented the earlier of the following: (1) 1 year from the date of the Act’s enactment. (2) Notice by the Secretary of Agriculture published in the Register of Regulations that final regulations to implement this Act have been adopted. This Act may be cited as “The Consumer Choice Milk Act“.
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Maddy summaryThis bill clarifies the definition of a "United States military pension" for Delaware state tax purposes, ensuring that income from service in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, NOAA, Public Health Service, or National Guard is treated correctly. The change specifically affects how taxpayers under age 60 calculate their tax-exempt income limits starting in the 2022 tax year, creating a distinct category for military pensions separate from other employer or state pensions. By explicitly listing the branches of service included, the legislation provides clearer guidance to military retirees and their families on which income qualifies for exclusion from taxable earnings.
This Act creates the Delaware Wrongful Conviction Compensation and Service Act. The Act provides compensation and reintegration services to individuals who have served sentences of incarceration, wrongful incarceration in a psychiatric institution, parole, probation, and sex offender registration in the State for crimes that they did not commit. An individual claiming wrongful conviction or, if deceased, that individual's heirs, may bring a petition for compensation in Delaware Superior Court. A petitioner who makes the required showing is entitled to damages based on the type and period of wrongful incarceration, probation, parole, or registration, and other amounts, such as reasonable attorney fees in obtaining relief, subject to requirements of proof. However, a petitioner is not entitled to such compensation if the Department of Justice establishes that the petitioner was an accomplice in the commission of the crime or that the petitioner intentionally and voluntarily caused the conviction at issue by committing perjury or fabricating evidence at trial in order to prevent the conviction of the true perpetrator. In addition, an individual released from incarceration as the result of the reversal, overturning, or vacation of a conviction is entitled to emergency assistance and services. Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 differs from SS 2 for SB 169 in that it provides that a petitioner who served time in a psychiatric institution is eligible to apply for relief. Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 also provides that in all cases, in order to be compensated, a petitioner must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the petitioner did not commit the crime that resulted in the conviction or that there was no crime committed. This provision differs from Senate Substitute 2, which required this showing only for a petitioner who entered a Robinson plea or entered a plea of no contest. In addition, Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 provides that persons who were pardoned are not eligible for post-release services under the Act. Finally, Senate Substitute 3 for SB 169 provides that any award under the Act must be offset by any amounts the petitioner has recovered in a civil action or settlement of a civil action for wrongful conviction or imprisonment. If, after receiving an award under the Act, a petitioner subsequently recovers in such a civil action or settlement, the petitioner must reimburse the State to the extent of the amounts awarded in the civil action or settlement of the civil action.
Pharmacists in Delaware provide some of the same medical services as physicians, advance practice registered nurses, and physician assistants, including immunizations. The General Assembly has recently added to the services that pharmacists may provide, including prescribing birth control, testing and treating for a variety of conditions, and prescribing pre-exposure and post-exposure HIV prophylaxis. However, health insurance plans do not currently recognize pharmacists as a provider type that may seek reimbursement for these services, despite already providing coverage for the same services if they were obtained from other providers. This could lead to many pharmacists not providing such expanded services due to the lack of insurance coverage. This Act requires health insurance providers to provide the same reimbursement to pharmacists that is already provided other providers performing the same services at the same rates as advance practice registered nurses and physician assistants. This bill also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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 uses terms and definitions that are consistent with other Delaware laws in Title 16, specifically Chapter 25 (regarding advance health-care directives) and Chapter 25A (regarding Delaware Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment). 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 July 1, 2024, 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.
This Act updates provisions of the code covering the Delaware Institute of Medical Education Research (DIMER), which creates partnerships with out-of-state medical schools as an alternative to creating a state sponsored medical school. Specifically, this Act does the following: (1) Updates the name of the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University to “Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University”; (2) Adds the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine as a DIMER medical school; (3) Alters and updates the composition of the DIMER Board and provides that all members will be appointed by the Governor; (4) Clarifies that a vacant Board position is not counted for quorum purposes; (5) Requires the Board Chair to be elected from the members of the Board, rather than appointed by the Chair of the Delaware Health Care Commission; (6) Requires the Board to select candidates for the Chair and Vice Chair from a nominating committee determined by the Board; and (7) Provides that the Board Chair and Vice Chair shall serve no more than 3 consecutive terms.
Maddy summaryThis bill updates Delaware law to allow low-speed vehicles that weigh up to 3,000 pounds, increasing the previous limit of 2,500 pounds. The legislation applies to four-wheeled motor vehicles traveling between 20 and 25 miles per hour, which must still be driven on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or lower. Owners are required to hold a valid driver's license, maintain insurance, and certify that their vehicle's safety equipment is in working order, while dealers must be licensed by the state. The change simplifies the definition of these vehicles without altering other operational rules or inspection requirements.
This Act permits trucks having 5 or more axles that are hauling farm produce grown in this State and traveling from the farm on which the farm produce is grown to a location at which the farm produce is to be processed or stored, or from a location at which the farm produce is processed or stored to an export facility within this State, to weigh up to 90,000 pounds or combined manufacturer’s gross combined weight rating (GCWR), whichever is less, before a penalty is assessed for exceeding weight restrictions. A truck hauling farm produce is granted this increased weight limit if the truck complies with several conditions aimed at ensuring public safety. Surrounding states have similar increased weight limits for hauling farm produce. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act transfers the sections pertaining to assessment functions and the New Castle County Board of Assessment Review from the subchapter governing the functions of the Department of Land Use to the subchapter governing the functions of the Department of Administration and updates reference to the Department of Land Use to the Office of Finance in Chapter 83 of Title 9. It changes the New Castle County Board of Assessment Review from 8 members appointed by New Castle County Council and 1 member appointed by the County Executive, with the advice and consent of County Council, to 8 regular members and 3 alternate members appointed by New Castle County Council and 1 regular member appointed by the County Executive, with the advice and consent of County Council. It changes the Sussex County Board of Assessment Review from 5 members to 5 regular members and 3 alternate members. It permits Sussex County Council to provide for the term, residency requirement, compensation, and procedure for filling vacancies. It authorizes the appointment of a representative called a “referee” or a panel of 3 members of the Board to hear assessment appeals. It increases the time period in which the appeal process may take place from one month to three months. In all counties, it removes the requirement that a board of assessment or Department or Office of Finance to show the names of the owners, last owners, or reputed owners, the value of the property, and the amount of each owner’s assessment in their written assessments. In all counties, it clarifies that all property subject to assessment shall be assessed at its fair market value as of the date of the most recent reassessment base year in the county in which the property is located. It removes the requirement in Sussex County that the written assessment must state whether unimproved land is timberland, swamp, or marsh, and the number of acres. It provides the Board of Assessment Review for New Castle County the ability to determine the schedule and manner of hearings necessary to handle its higher volume of appeals in a timely manner and increases the time for the Board to provide appealing parties notice of the hearing from 5 to 10 days. Further, it changes the date that the Board of Assessment for Sussex County or its representatives must hear appeals and make additions, alterations, or corrections to assessments from February 15 through March 1 to March 1 through May 31 of each year or until all appeals have been heard and acted upon during a year of reassessment. It removes the requirement that the Board or representatives must sit in their offices during each secular day to hear such appeals. It provides that duplicate assessments may be in the form of a widely accepted electronic file format. It clarifies that when a board of assessment, Department or Office of Finance makes a supplemental assessment that does not alter, amend, or make a new one, it is treated like a general or annual assessment and the notice provisions required of an altered, amended, or new assessment do not apply. In all counties, it provides that any notices required to be given under Title 9, Chapter 83 may be sent by e-mail when the property owner has provided an electronic mail address for notice purposes. In all counties, it provides that each board of assessment or Department or Office of Finance shall publish notices of the place, and the website if made available electronically, where the annual and supplemental assessment roll may be inspected together with a notice of the time and place of the sittings to hear appeals. It changes the publication requirements for such notices in the case of Kent and Sussex Counties to one time in at least 2 newspapers and in the case of New Castle County to the newspaper with the highest general circulation. It clarifies the method for determining taxation value, frequency of assessments, and assessment rate for mobile homes by providing that Ad Valorem assessments for mobile homes shall be developed in the same manner as real property and be predicated on their market value and taxed at the same rate as real property throughout the county and school district in which the mobile home is located and in the name of the owner. In instances where the land is leased, the land upon which the mobile home is located shall be separately assessed and shall not include the value of the mobile home located thereon. It removes the provision that mobile homes be subject to a tax based on their value as rated in a nationally recognized appraisal guide and that a recognized guide be used to determine the assessed value on mobile homes. It removes the provision that for model homes not appearing in a guide, the board of assessors must contact a reputable mobile home dealer to determine value.
This Act addresses the growing concern over the safety of emergency responders. It increases the penalties for persons who violate this section, which requires drivers to yield the right of way to an emergency vehicle making use of audible or visual signals, or a police vehicle using an audible signal only. The fines are increased and after two penalties, a person who violates this section will be subject to a 90-day suspension of their driver’s license. This change in fines and loss of driving privileges increases the penalty to make this a serious offense. This Act also clarifies that a driver who is unable to safely yield the right of way must slow to at least 20 miles per hour less than the posted speed limit. There have been numerous accidents causing personal injury and even death by inattentive drivers. Hopefully, this will help improve awareness and safety and avoid putting our Police, Fire, Ambulance, Paramedics, Fire Police, DelDOT employees, tow truck operators , utility crews and the distressed citizen broken down on our highways in jeopardy.