Sen. Brian Pettyjohn

Individuals who volunteer their services through stand-alone EMS companies have been a valuable part of public safety to the citizens of the State of Delaware. To try to bolster the ranks of these volunteers, this bill exempts anyone applying for membership of a volunteer EMS company from paying the cost of a background check done by the State of Delaware Bureau of Identification.

This Act enables the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to employ Seasonal Patrol Officers without conferring on the seasonal patrol officers all the powers of investigation, detention, and arrest conferred by law on peace officers or constables under § 4701(a)(8) of Title 7. Seasonal patrol officers will assist the Department's park rangers and have limited powers to enforce the Division of Parks and Recreation's rules and regulations. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

The opioid epidemic spreading through Delaware has reached critical levels, with 210 fentanyl-related deaths in 2017. This legislation will update the schedule for Fentanyl analogues, consistent with language used by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The Forensic Chemistry Unit at the Division of Forensic Science has confirmed the presence of these analogues in Delaware, but some of which are not currently scheduled under Title 16. This is directly related to continuous structural modifications of Fentanyl by illicit manufacturers. This legislation will close that gap and provide clarity to Title 16, consistent with federal law, by addressing ever-changing structural modifications being made in the illicit manufacture of Fentanyl. This legislative is aimed to curb the manufacture and distribution of illicit Fentanyl analogues and has no impact on the legal manufacture of Fentanyl for medical use.

This Bill establishes the pilotage rates for the Pilots’ Association for the Bay and River Delaware for 2020, 2021 and 2022.

This Act makes the following changes to provisions required in life insurance policies issued in this State: (1) Specifies that a certified copy of an insured's death certificate, or other lawful evidence providing equivalent information, is acceptable as due proof of death. (2) Requires that interest be paid on the death benefit due under a life insurance policy.

This Act allows Sussex County, by duly enacted ordinance, to impose a local lodging tax of no more than 3 percent of rent on rooms in a hotel, motel or tourist home located in the unincorporated areas of the County. Such funds may only be used in Sussex County for the capital and operating costs of beach nourishment, waterway dredging, economic development, tourism programs, recreational activities, and water quality and flood control projects.

This Act reinstates the requirement that the Clerks of the Peace in each county maintain a registry of clergypersons or ministers who perform marriages in Delaware. Clergypersons or ministers of any religion desiring to perform wedding ceremonies must register with the Clerk of the Peace. Upon registering, he or she will receive an identification number that he or she must enter on the Certificate of Marriage for each wedding ceremony he or she performs. If the clergyperson or minister registers with the Clerk of the Peace in one county, he or she will be added to a statewide registry and will be able to perform weddings statewide. If a clergyperson or minister performs a wedding without being registered, the Clerk of the Peace can suspend or revoke that clergyperson or minister’s ability to perform further weddings in Delaware.

This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2020 Bond and Capital Improvements Act.

This Concurrent Resolution establishes a task force (“Task Force”) to study and make recommendations regarding the policies, rules, structure, and regulations of the Division of Developmental Disabilities Services ("Division"). The Division provides home and community-based services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Task Force will consider, have access to, and make recommendations on several matters, including: (1) Wages and turnover rates for direct support professionals. (2) Design of systems changes and performance measures. (3) Other trends, analyses, and recommendations. (4) A synopsis of provider violations, probation, appeals, and ultimate outcomes from 2015 through 2019. The data provided to the Task Force are not records or proceedings for the purposes of § 1768 of Title 24, commonly known as “peer review privilege.” The release of data for the purposes of the Task Forces’ work does not waive the privileged nature of the data, which must already omit information that may identify a specific patient or provider before it is provided to the Task Force. This Concurrent Resolution is the result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee deciding not to review the Division in 2020 and instead allow the Division time to undergo a more brief method of review. This process was initially created as an advisory council through Senate Bill No. 154 of the 150th General Assembly, but was later determined to be better achieved through a task force.

This bill changes the earned income tax credit from nonrefundable to refundable. For tax year 2020 and thereafter, the rate of the credit is in the amount of 5.9 %.