This bill amends the Delaware Public Employment Relations Act by expanding the jurisdictional application of the Act to employers with less than 100 employees and as few as 25 employees.
This Act adds xylazine and it isomers, esters, ethers, salts and salts of isomers, esters and ethers to Schedule III of the Delaware Uniform Controlled Substances Act and expands the authorization for the distribution of testing strips to determine the presence of controlled substances. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the emergence of xylazine across the United States appears to be following the same path as fentanyl, starting in the Northeast and then spreading to the South and working its way into drug markets westward, and the low cost of xylazine contributes to xylazine’s increased presence in the nation’s illegal drug supply. Xylazine is approved only for veterinary use, xylazine is a non-opioid with increasing presence as an adulterant, often in conjunction with opioids, in the illicit drug supply. When used alone and in conjunction with other drugs, xylazine is implicated as a cause or contributing cause of death in the United States. When used in conjunction with an opioid, such as heroin or fentanyl, xylazine may worsen respiratory depression in the event of a drug overdose, and because xylazine is not an opioid, naloxone is not known to be effective at reversing overdoses, and there is no known antidote or reversal agent for xylazine overdose in humans. This Act also exempts testing strips from the drug paraphernalia statute and expands the limitations on liability for lay individuals and organizations that provide a drug testing strip to an individual who uses drugs to reduce the likelihood of the individual experiencing harm. This Act becomes effective upon the expiration of the Emergency Order issued by the Secretary of State placing Xylazine in Schedule III of the Uniform Controlled Substance Act or November 29, 2023, whichever is earlier.
This bill amends the Delaware Public Employment Relations Act by requiring that the Board, consistent with the Board’s Rules and Regulations, issue written decisions following hearings on unfair labor practice charges within 30 days of the close of the record.
This Act amends Chapter 25, Title 24 of the Delaware Code relating to the Practice of Pharmacy. The amendments authorize pharmacists to engage in “collaborative pharmacy practice” with one or more “practitioners” meaning individuals who are authorized by law to prescribe drugs in the course of professional practice. Pharmacists may also do so pursuant to a “collaborative pharmacy practice agreement,” which means a written and signed agreement between one or more pharmacists and one or more practitioners that provides for a collaborative pharmacy practice.
According to a recent CDC survey, the COVID pandemic exacerbated an existing mental health crisis for students. One in 5 school aged children has a mental health condition, and 45% of children may have experienced a traumatic event. This bill provides for excused absences for the mental or behavior health of a student and requires that any student taking more than 2 such excused absences will be referred to a behavioral health specialist. This bill provides a supplemental tool to identify students struggling with mental and behavioral health issues and legitimizes these struggles faced by many students. Moreover, this bill makes clear that the mental and behavioral health of students is a priority in this State.
This Act is Nolan’s Law. The purpose of this legislation is to provide more behavioral health supports to school districts and charter schools in the aftermath of a school-connected traumatic event, which is defined as the death of any student, educator, administrator, or other building employee of a public school. The Department of Education is charged with developing guidance, best practices, and written resources for schools dealing with a school-connected traumatic event. The Department must consult with behavioral health specialists and school-based mental health professional organizations such as NAMI, Delaware, Delaware Association of School Psychologists, Delaware School Counselors Association, and the School Social Workers Association of Delaware. The Department must finalize these items by January 1, 2024. This legislation also requires the Department to cover the costs of grief counseling offered to students for up to thirty days after a school-connected traumatic event. In an effort to create a more standardized approach for the occurrence of a school-connected traumatic event, this bill charges each school district and charter school to establish a detailed crisis response policy that must meet a minimum number of required policies and procedures. Policies must be adopted by the school district or charter and distributed to the Department of Education by September 1, 2024.
This Act authorizes paramedics and other EMS providers to provide medical care to police dogs injured at the scene of an emergency. This Act also grants civil immunity to paramedics and other EMS providers who provide medical services to police dogs, so long as their efforts to assist the police dog were in good faith. However, this Act clarifies that in a situation where a human and a police dog need emergency medical care at the same time, the medical services personnel are prohibited from providing care to the police dog over the human, if the care of the police dog would hinder the human’s care.
This Act requires that an owner be reimbursed up to $1,500 annually for veterinary care expenses paid by the owner for the care of a retired law-enforcement canine. The Department of Safety and Homeland Security shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines from the State Police and Capitol Police. The State Fire Prevention Commission shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines from the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The Department of Correction and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines that assisted their respective divisions. This Act is effective immediately and shall be implemented 6 months after enactment. This Act does not apply to law-enforcement canines that retire before the implementation date of this Act.
This Act requires that each county reassess the value of real property in the county at least once every 5 years. The first 5-year period starts when the reassessment currently being conducted by each county is completed. This Act also makes revisions to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and for consistency with current law and terminology as follows: 1. Because boards of assessment are not responsible for assessing property in any of the counties under current law, this Act repeals the penalty under § 8306 of Title 9 against a board of assessment that knowingly and wilfully assesses property at an incorrect value and corrects references to a county Department of Finance instead of the board of assessment in § 8307 of Title 9. 2. Requires that real property be assessed at its “present fair market value” instead of at its “true value in money.” Delaware courts have established that the “true value in money” for real property means its “present fair market value”, which is the terminology that is currently used.
This bill would extend various deadlines in the Unemployment Code. The intent is to provide claimants and employers additional time to receive and prepare a response or appeal of benefit determinations and other important documents that require a response, in an effort to reduce the incidents of late filed appeals and missed deadlines. This would benefit claimants and employers by providing more time, while also reducing the administrative burden to the Division of Unemployment Insurance of responding to late appeals and late filed documents. This bill also makes conforming changes to additional sections of the Unemployment Code that provide for delivery by mail or other delivery methods to provide flexibility to the Division and Board if they decide to send notices and other documents by email or other delivery methods to reduce mailing expenses and increase efficiency. Finally, this bill confirms Superior Court precedent that Code references to “days” mean “calendar days” unless otherwise specified.
