Under this bill, when the State incurs costs for impounding an animal and the owner fails to pay the costs, the time in which ownership of the animal reverts to the State is reduced from 30 days to 15 days.
This Act establishes a Delaware Educator Apprenticeship Program to be developed by the Department of Education. The Department of Education will work with the Department of Labor to create a program that places aspiring teachers in paid positions in schools, while the teacher candidates complete the training and schooling necessary to become a Delaware credentialed teacher. This program will complement the Grow Your Own Educator Program and teacher residency programs to create a low-cost pathway for aspiring teachers to earn their teaching credentials and will address the educator shortage in Delaware. A pilot program will be created for the 2023-24 school year between 1 institute of higher education and 1 district or charter school. The program shall be expanded if interest and funding is available for the 2024-25 school year and thereafter.
This bill creates a special license plate for Plastic Free Delaware, Inc., a nonprofit whose mission is to reduce single-use plastic pollution and build a culture of zero waste in Delaware through educational programs, awareness building, and policy initiatives.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 87. Like Senate Bill No. 87, this Act does the following: (1) Clarifies that the exemption from the realty transfer tax for conveyances to or from an organization exempt from tax under § 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code when the purpose of the conveyance is to provide owner-occupied housing to low and moderate income households applies to rehabilitating residential properties and reselling the properties without profit and to constructing residences on properties and reselling the properties without profit. (2) Exempts any portion of a conveyance in which it is the grantee’s intent to construct affordable housing units and the conveyances are financed using funding provided by the federal government, this State, or a county or municipality of this State for the purpose of constructing affordable housing units, defined as a residential dwelling for a household whose income does not exceed 80% of the median income for the area as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (3) Clarifies that individuals are first-time homebuyers if they intend to occupy the property being conveyed as their principal residence after the construction of a residence on the property to include circumstances where the residence cannot be built within 90 days after the property is purchased. (4) Corrects the first-time homebuyer definition related to individuals purchasing as joint tenants or cotenants to replace “none” with “neither” to conform the number of joint tenants or cotenants indicated by the indefinite pronoun to the number indicated by the use of “both” later in the sentence. (5) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 87 by removing the exemption created by Senate Bill No. 87 for any portion of a conveyance financed through the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.
This Act prohibits food establishments from providing consumers with ready-to-eat food or beverages in polystyrene foam containers or with single-service plastic coffee stirrers, cocktail picks, or sandwich picks. It also prohibits food establishments from providing single-service plastic straws, unless requested by a consumer. These restrictions take effect on July 1, 2025. This Act provides the following exemptions to the prohibitions on single-service plastic implements and polystyrene foam containers: 1. The definition of "polystyrene foam food service packaging" excludes coolers or ice chests used for the processing or shipping of seafood and containers used to contain, transport, or package raw, uncooked, or butchered meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs, fruits, or vegetables. 2. The prohibition on plastic straws does not apply to patients or residents of hospitals or long-term care facilities and for plastic straws that are attached to pre-packaged goods, such as juice boxes. 3. The restriction on providing ready-to-eat food in polystyrene foam food service packaging does not apply to any of the following: • Fire companies. • Health-care providers that provide long-term, acute, and outpatient health-care services. • Nonprofit organizations, including religious institutions. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
As of April 4, 2023, 74 people have been killed or injured by guns in schools this year in 13 separate school shootings. School shootings hit a record high in 2022 with 46 shootings, surpassing 2021’s record of 42 shootings. In 2022, 43,450 children experienced a school shooting. The purpose of this bill is to enable a police officer to act immediately when the officer sees or suspects that a person possesses a firearm in a Safe School and Recreation Zone. This Act establishes the crime of Possession of a firearm in a Safe School and Recreation Zone as a class E felony. This bill makes it a crime for a person to possess a firearm in a Safe School and Recreation Zone except a police officer or a constable or active-duty member of the armed forces who are acting in an official capacity within for the Safe School and Recreation Zone. The bill also exempts holders of a valid license to carry concealed weapons but only if the firearm is in a vehicle. The possession of a firearm under this bill does not apply if (1) the person is on private property which is not part of school grounds; (2) the firearm is in a locked container or locked firearms rack that is on or in a motor vehicle; or (3) when engaged in lawful hunting, firearms instruction, or firearm-related sports on public lands not belonging to a school. This bill provides that in addition to other penalties, a student who possesses a firearm in a Safe School and Recreation Zone, shall be expelled for a period of not less than 90 days, but the local school board or charter school board of directors may, on a case-by-case basis, modify the terms of the expulsion. This Act repeals the crime of Possession of a Weapon in a Safe School and Recreation Zone, but provides a Savings Clause which enables a prosecution for such crime if the offense occurred before the repeal is enacted.
The Act updates the Delaware Code concerning animal shelter standards and treatment of animals in shelters to reflect best practices, which are currently already being followed by most shelters. The Act also fills in gaps in existing law, such as by requiring that animals be vaccinated against rabies before adoption or release and by setting standards for feeding and access to water, facilities and enclosures, and sanitation and disease control. The Act also makes technical changes to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
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 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.
