Sen. Margaret Rose Henry

This Act creates the Delaware Native Species Commission ("Commission"), which is one of the recommendations of the Statewide Ecological Extinction Task Force, created by Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 20 of the 149th General Assembly. The Commission will terminate 10 years from enactment unless extended by the General Assembly.

This is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to provide equal rights on the basis of sex. There is no Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution. While Congress passed the Amendment in 1972, it was not ratified by the requisite number of states by the 1982 deadline. Delaware, however, was one of the first states to ratify the Amendment. About half of the states across the country have passed Equal Rights Amendments to their state constitutions in order to provide protection against discrimination based on sex. Without an Equal Rights amendment, women's rights and protections are limited. This Amendment is necessary to correct a constitutional shortcoming, reduce sex-based disparities and to codify our State's value of equality.

This non-punitive, public-health oriented bill seeks to codify certain sections of the federal law known as the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA), as amended by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA), that requires states to have policies and procedures in place to address the needs of infants born with and identified as being affected by substance abuse, withdrawal symptoms, or Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, including a requirement that healthcare providers involved in the delivery or care of such infant notify the child protection services system. This bill formalizes a uniform, collaborative response protocol for the development of a Plan of Safe Care for infants with prenatal substance exposure and their affected family or caregivers.

This Act authorizes the creation and regulation of a new type of limited-purpose bank, the "Business Development Bank." Modeled on Delaware's successful credit card bank laws, this Act would allow Business Development Banks, or "BDBs," to concentrate their resources in the commercial lending space, leverage technology and expertise, and partner with existing banks to serve a broader spectrum of small to medium-sized businesses. This Act would limit the permissible activities of the BDBs to ensure that they cannot compete with existing banks for consumer customers or to provide several other forms of bank or trust services.

At this time, the 24-month testing rates are well below what the Division of Public Health would expect them to be based upon the risk factors that determine when testing is necessary. This bill simplifies the requirements and the process for physicians and eliminates confusion that may be causing the low compliance rate for the second test. With better compliance, the Division of Public Health will have a much clearer picture of lead exposure in Delaware. This bill also requires the Division of Public Health to review the criteria for testing every 5 years. This requirement would actively foster discussions between the Division and stakeholders to ensure that the best balance is struck between the burden of testing and the protection to children.

This Concurrent Resolution recognizes the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Inc., Delaware Chapter for its dedication to improving the lives of Black women and girls in Delaware through advocacy, civic engagement, and other community-building initiatives.

This Act creates a Delaware Commission on Irish Heritage and Culture.

This Act will create the Biometric Privacy Protection Act and Geolocation Privacy Protection Act in Title 6 of the Delaware Code to give Delaware’s citizens important protections with respect to the collection, storage, use, and disclosure of their unique biometric information (such as fingerprints, voiceprints, and retinal and facial scans) and, with respect to their use of mobile devices, geolocation information that can identify Biometrics are biological and behavioral characteristics, such as fingerprints, voiceprints, and retinal and facial scans, that uniquely identify a person, and they are increasingly being collected from Delaware’s citizens and used for a variety of purposes, including marketing, employment, and security. Biometrics are among our most sensitive personal information, potentially more valuable to identity thieves, hackers, and marketers than even Social Security numbers, and need to be protected as such. Currently under Delaware law, biometric information can be collected without an individual’s knowledge or consent, and a person capturing or collecting biometric information is not required to identify what biometric information is being collected, why it’s being collected, or how long it will be kept. Delaware law also contains no protections for individuals to prevent their biometric information from being sold or transferred to third parties. The use of biometrics offers great promise for improving the lives of Delaware’s citizens in a variety of ways, but the sensitivity and importance of biometric information requires that there be protections for Delawareans with regard to the collection and use of their biometric information. The Biometric Privacy Protection Act will expand the legal protections available under Delaware law to individuals relating to the collection and use of their biometric identifiers and biometric information. Among its provisions, the Biometric Information Privacy Protection Act: (1) Requires persons in possession of biometric data to develop and make publicly available written retention schedules and guidelines for keeping biometric information; (2) Requires persons to provide timely, reasonable notice and obtain informed, affirmative consent before acquiring, collecting, storing, or capturing biometric data; (3) Prohibits persons from selling or profiting from an individual’s biometric data; (4) Prohibits persons from disclosing or disseminating an individual’s biometric data except under specified circumstances, which include an individual’s informed, affirmative consent to the disclosure; and (5) Requires persons in possession of biometric data to implement and maintain reasonable procedures and practices to protect the biometric data and prevent its unauthorized disclosure. Geolocation information is data that can be used to determine the precise location of smartphones and other mobile devices and, by extension, the individuals carrying them. Such information can be used to track the users carrying those devices wherever they go. Location-based applications currently can make use of geolocation information on an individual’s mobile device without explicitly informing the individual that the geolocation information is being collected, used, stored, or disclosed, why it is being collected, used, stored, or disclosed, or to whom it is being disclosed, and without obtaining the individual’s consent to the collection, use, storage, or disclosure of the geolocation information. The Geolocation Privacy Protection Act will create legal protections for Delaware’s citizens relating to the collection, use, storage, or disclosure of the geolocation information on their mobile devices, by prohibiting persons from collecting, using, storing, or disclosing such information unless they first obtain an individual’s affirmative express consent after providing the individual with clear, prominent, and accurate notice that: (1) Tells the individual that the individual’s geolocation information is being collected, used, stored, or disclosed; (2) Informs the individual of the specific purposes for which the geolocation information is being collected, used, stored, or disclosed; (3) Informs the individual of the identity of any third parties to whom the geolocation information is being disclosed; and (4) Provides the individual with a hyperlink or other easy access to the geolocation information collected, used, stored, or disclosed. Both the Biometric Information Privacy Protection Act and the Geolocation Privacy Protection Act give the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice the authority to investigate and prosecute violations. There is no private right of action under the Biometric Information Privacy Protection Act or the Geolocation Privacy Protection Act. Both the Biometric Information Privacy Protection Act or the Geolocation Privacy Protection Act provide that their provisions do not apply to certain specified persons or entities or in certain specific situations. This Act provides that it will become effective January 1 following its enactment into law.

This bill lowers the mayoral age requirement from 30 to 25. This change makes the Mayor’s age requirement consistent with that for City Councilmen. Under the City ‘s Charter, if the Mayor resigns, dies or is unable to perform his/her duties, the Council President takes the Mayor’s place. This succession would prove problematic if the Council President does not meet the age requirement for Mayor.

This Act is designed to address underage gambling offenses under § 4810 of Title 29 in a more efficient way. Section 1 of this Act requires mandatory counseling for underage individuals who gamble in violation of § 4810(a) of Title 29 and provides for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Justice of Peace Courts for those who are 18 years of age or older and for original jurisdiction for these violations in the Family Court for those who are 17 years of age or younger. Section 2 of this Act gives Superior Court jurisdiction over other violations of the underage gambling law. Section 3 makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 eligible for probation before judgment. Section 4 of the Act makes violations of § 4810(a) of Title 29 a warrantless crime, which would permit violators to be processed through the use of a criminal summons. Finally, this Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.