Sen. Brian Pettyjohn

This Act is the result of the 2019 report of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's (“JLSOC”) task force under Senate Resolution No. 9 of the 150th General Assembly, which recommended amending the Delaware Health Information Network's ("DHIN") chapter to conform existing law with the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act makes technical corrections to the DHIN chapter, including the following: - Using active voice where possible. - Using the singular where appropriate since, under § 304 of Title 1, “words used in the singular include the plural.” - Converting block paragraphs into lists where possible, without changing the substance of the existing law, to enhance clarity and readability. - Replacing “party” with “person” for consistency since, under § 302 of Title 1, “person” is defined as including “corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies and joint-stock companies, as well as individuals.” This Act makes one substantive change to DHIN's chapter, in clarifying the circumstances under which the Governor may suspend or remove a member or otherwise consider a member as having resigned from the DHIN Board of Directors. Under this Act, the provision relating to suspension, removal, or resignation of a DHIN Board member is updated to be consistent with similar provisions for other boards. Section 8 of this Act does not take effect if Senate Bill No. 88 of the 151st General Assembly is enacted into law before January 1, 2023, and § 10312(3), Title 16 of Section 11 of this Act does not take effect if Senate Bill No. 119 of the 151st General Assembly is enacted before January 1, 2023. Both SB 88 and SB 119 are also the result of JLOSC’s review of DHIN, and both address substantive matters. The enactment of SB 88 or SB 119 override the technical corrections made in this Act, and the effective date clauses in Sections 15 and 16 of this Act reflect that policy. This Act takes effective the January 1 after its enactment, to accommodate the enactment of the other bills currently pending before the 151st General Assembly relating to JLOSC’s review of DHIN.

This Act would revise the definition of Committee to include the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware in the body that determines the treatment and disposition of Native American unmarked burials and human skeletal remains. This Act would also add a new definition of a Committee convened by the Director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs to address discoveries of non-Native American unmarked burials and human skeletal remains, including those of enslaved individuals and undetermined cultural affiliation. This Act also adds new definitions for “lineal descendant” and “proven kinship” to replace the undefined term “next of kin.” This Act would also clarify responsibilities of various parties and encourage preservation of unmarked burials in place, consistent with the purposes of the Chapter. This Act would make failure to report a discovery of remains a prohibited act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and removes erroneous references to “subchapter.”

This Act provides additional procedures necessary to ensure that incarcerated individuals who were residents of Delaware immediately before their date of incarceration are counted for reapportionment and redistricting purposes at their last known residence as required by law. Specifically, this Act does the following: 1. Clarifies that this law applies to individuals incarcerated in a state correction facility in Delaware. 2. Designates the Department of Elections as the state agency in charge of geocoding the last known residence of these incarcerated individuals. 3. Requires the Department of Correction to provide last known residence information in its possession to the Department of Elections by September 15 of the year of a federal decennial census after the general election of 2022. 4. Requires the Department of Elections to make reasonable efforts to correct last known residence data that is not geocodable. If the Department is not able to geocode the last known address of an incarcerated individual, the Department shall establish the address of the incarcerated individual as the State correctional facility where the individual is incarcerated. 5. Requires the Department of Elections to provide the geocoded last known residence data to the General Assembly by January 15 of the year following a federal decennial census after the general election of 2022. Additionally, Section 2 of this Act makes clear that, while the deadlines in the amended version of § 804A of Title 29 of the Delaware Code only apply prospectively, because the deadlines have passed for purposes of redistricting for the general election of 2022, the intent is that the amended version of § 804A of Title 29 apply for purposes of redistricting for the general election of 2022 and the Department of Correction and Department of Election provide the necessary data as soon as practicable. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act establishes a mental health services unit for Delaware elementary schools. The unit is at a ratio of 250 full-time equivalent students grades K-5 for a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker. Additionally a unit ratio of 700 full time equivalent students for grades K-5 for employment of a full-time school psychologist. This Act defines “mental health services” as prevention, response, and coordination services delivered to students in elementary schools. Mental Health disorders are the most common health problem for school aged youth. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in five youth are affected by a mental health disorder. Additionally, 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. Untreated mental illness leads to negative outcomes including increased risk of dropout, homelessness, substance abuse, other chronic illnesses, incarceration, and possibly suicide. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, ninety percent of people who have taken their own life have had an underlying mental health condition, and suicides are on the rise. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides are now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. Delaware schools need trained and experienced mental health professionals to provide prevention and support programs and services to students. Currently, as reported by Delaware school districts, 86% of elementary schools do not employ a school social worker, and ratios of students to school counselors and school psychologists far exceed national best practices. This bill will lower ratios and increase access to mental health services for elementary school students.

This Act creates the Disabled Veterans Property Tax Relief and Education Fund. Pursuant to this legislation, school districts are authorized to create a credit against school taxes for up to the full amount of school tax liability for property owned by a veteran with a 100% disability rating who is domiciled in this state. The full amount of such credit will be reimbursed by a transfer from the State’s General Fund to the County Receiver for distribution to such school districts. It has a delayed effective date to allow for implementation of the program.

Section 1 of this Act modifies Delaware’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to allow recipients to choose the most beneficial credit to be applied against their Delaware Personal Income Taxes. Under this Act, recipients can choose between a non-refundable credit of up to 20% of the value of the corresponding federal EITC or a refundable EITC credit of up to 4.5% of the value of the corresponding federal EITC. Section 2 of this Act makes the change to Delaware’s EITC effective for the tax year in which the Secretary of Finance provides the Registrar of Regulations with notice that the personal income tax release of the Integrated Revenue Administration System is implemented. This delay in effective date is necessary to ensure that tax law changes can be properly and efficiently implemented in the Division of Revenue’s modernized Integrated Revenue Administration System, which is currently under development. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act creates emergency access to epinephrine that allows an institution of higher education to acquire and stock a supply of epinephrine autoinjectors if an employee or agent has completed a training program. This Act allows the individual who has completed the training program to provide an epinephrine autoinjector to someone experiencing anaphylaxis for immediate self-administration or administer an epinephrine autoinjector to someone experiencing anaphylaxis. Before an individual administers an epinephrine autoinjector under this Act, the individual must notify EMS immediately, and after administration, must report the administration to the prescribing health-care provider. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the creation of the new subchapter and to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual..

This bill provides that the spouse and any child of a member of the active military service of the United States, who has been assigned to duty elsewhere immediately following assignment to duty in Delaware, shall be deemed to be an in-state resident for the purposes of determining the tuition, fees, and other charges at Delaware public universities, colleges, or community colleges as long as the spouse or child remains enrolled at such institution.

This bill allows schools and school districts to submit an application to the Department of Education to have a school designated as a Purple Star School.

This Act establishes a Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program for new primary care providers to be administered by the Delaware Health Care Commission. Under the loan repayment program, the Health Care Commission may award education loan repayment grants to new primary care providers of up to $50,000 per year for a maximum of 4 years. Priority consideration may be given to DIMER-participating students and participants in Delaware based residency programs. Sites eligible to apply for grants on behalf of their new primary care providers must be located in underserved areas or areas of need and must accept Medicare and Medicaid participants. Grants to hospital sites must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the applicant hospital and the disbursement of grants from the program is contingent upon an initial, one-time contribution to the Health Care Provider Loan Repayment Program, in an amount Fiscal Year 21 appropriation of State funds up to a maximum of $1 million, from Delaware health insurers. This Act also provides that the Delaware Healthcare Commission may award Health Care Provider Repayment grants on a prorated annual basis.