Sen. Bryant Richardson

This Act requires a physician to offer a patient ultrasound imaging and auscultation of fetal heart tone services before terminating a pregnancy and provides civil and criminal penalties for the failure of a physician to comply with this requirement. The patient is free to choose not to view the ultrasound or listen to the heartbeat. This Act is known as "The Woman's Ultrasound Right to Know Act."

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 creates the Omnibus School Safety Fund to provide funding to public and charter schools for certain school safety projects.

This legislation, the Angel Investor Job Creation and Innovation Act for Small Technology Companies, creates an incentive for qualified angel investors to invest capital in qualified Delaware small technology companies..

This Act makes consistent the amount of time that the Court "looks back" to determine if the current offense is a second offense for the purposes of sentencing. This Act applies to Traffic offenses, but it would not be applicable to DUI cases.

This bill allows ground-based and hand-held sparklers and certain other nonexplosive, nonairborne novelty items regulated by the federal government to be sold and used in the State. The bill does not legalize firecrackers, bottle rockets, aerials, or any other device that explodes or shoots into the air. The use of those items that may be sold only to persons 18 years of age and older is limited to July 4th and December 31st of each year and sales are limited to the 30 days prior to the allowable use day. This bill allows paper caps used in toy guns contain 16 milligrams or less of pyrotechnic mixture. The sale of sparklers and most other items permitted under this bill is limited to persons 18 and older. The penalty section of 16 Del. C. §6905 applies to this bill. At least forty-three states allow the sale and use of sparklers and other nonexplosive, nonairborne novelty items that are regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Designating February 6, 2018 as "Ronald Reagan Day" in Delaware

The Act protects the life of the unborn child at a time when the potential for the child to survive outside the womb increases, especially with the advancement of medical procedures. Also, there is substantial medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain by 20 weeks after fertilization. The Delaware Legislature has the constitutional authority to make this judgment as shown in U.S. Supreme Court decisions as detailed in this Act. In enacting this legislation Delaware is not asking the Supreme Court to overturn or replace the holding in Roe v. Wade. Rather, it asserts a separate and independent compelling state interest in unborn human life that exists once the unborn child is capable of experiencing pain.

Recognizing the beneficial value of being in nature and fishing, this bill expands the list of fishing license exceptions to include residents of long term care facilities who are accompanied by the facility's controlling person.

This Act allows the various at-large members of the Domestic Violence Coordinating Council to be appointed for 3-year terms and be eligible for reappointment. This change is requested by the Council.