Sen. Brian Pettyjohn

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 Act appropriates $194,560,278 to provide one-time funded projects through the Office of Management and Budget.

Frequently, driver license applicants over the age of 18 require more than six (6) months practice time behind the wheel and to prepare for the skills exam. By providing the permit for a total of one (1) year, it will eliminate the need to request the extension and decreases the risk of them having to retake the knowledge exam if they do not request the extension prior to the six (6) months expiration of their permit, thus eliminating the need to start the process over. The limited window of one extension after the 6-month period is a frequent complaint from customers.

Section 1 of this bill moves the date of primary elections for statewide office, county office, and municipal office to the fourth Tuesday in April, which is the date of the presidential primary (in presidential election years). The dates for submitting and withdrawing notification of candidacy have been adjusted accordingly. Section 2 of the bill changes the deadline for a minor political party selecting its candidate at the party’s convention. Section 3 of the bill changes the deadline for filing certificates of nomination from September 1st to April 1st. Section 4 changes the “closed” period in which a voter is not allowed to change his or her political affiliation to match the 60-day limit in 15 Del. C. § 3189 for presidential primaries. Section 5 provides that the Act is applicable to all primary elections after October 1, 2024.

This Act is a result of the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee's review of the Delaware Byway Advisory Board ("Board"). First formed in 2000, the Board has served in an advisory role relating to the Delaware Byways Program. The Board's primary purpose is to assist in and make recommendations regarding in the designation, development, operation, management, and promotion of Delaware byways. During the initial development of the Delaware Byways Program, the Board consulted with the Department of Transportation’s planning division to create the Delaware Scenic and Historic Highways Program Guide in 2001. The Guide defined the creation, organization, and ongoing management of designated byways in Delaware. Six byways were designated in Delaware between 2002 and 2010. The Board met regularly from 2000 through 2005, with its last known meeting in 2005. The Delaware Byways Program no longer accepts applications for new byways, and the existing 6 byways are self-governed by byway management organizations and individual corridor management plans. For these reasons, and with the support of the Department of Transportation, the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee concluded that, although the Board once served an important role relating to byways in Delaware, the Board is no longer meeting its statutory duties or fulfilling a state need, and that the Board should be terminated. This Act therefore terminates the Delaware Byway Advisory Board.

This Resolution provides the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for Fiscal Year 2024.

This Bill allows for the use of green lights on state owned and operated snow removal equipment and vehicles during winter weather operations. Studies have shown green lights are more visible to the traveling public during winter weather conditions.

This Resolution recognizes June 2023 as “Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Month” and June 27, 2023, as “Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Day”, and encourages State agencies to continue their work educating victims of assault or abuse, combat, serious accidents, and natural disasters about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of PTSI.

This Concurrent Resolution does all of the following: (1) Directs the Director of the Division of Research and the Director of the Legislative Information Systems Team of the Office of the Controller General to investigate the cost of, impact of, and methods and timeframe for implementing a requirement to include hyperlinks to laws cross-referenced in legislation and Delaware laws published by the General Assembly. (2) Requires the Director of the Division of Research and the Director of the Legislative Information Systems Team of the Office of the Controller General to submit a written report of their findings and recommendations no later than March 1, 2024.

This Act eliminates the need to file a lawsuit against a person, who has caused injury with the person's vehicle, when that person's liability insurer has offered the limits of liability coverage to the injured person and the injured person’s underinsured motorist insurer either consents to the settlement or fails to timely reply to the request for permission to settle. The goal of this Act is to have fewer lawsuits filed merely to obtain permission to accept liability insurers' offer to settle a claim. This Act is not intended to require any person to seek permission from an underinsured motorist insurer to resolve a bodily injury claim.