In light of the Federal Drug Administration’s recent approval of over-the-counter non-emergency contraceptive pills, this bill expands the contraceptive coverage laws to include over-the-counter non-emergency contraceptive pills.
This Act deletes the current Charter of the Village of Ardencroft (the "Village") and replaces it with a new charter that differs in several respects. Among other changes, the Act changes the Village's governing body from the "Town Meeting" to the "Village Assembly." The Act also adds a requirement for residents to qualify as eligible voters. Under the current charter, eligible voters are persons 18 or older who have resided in the Village for a period of 30 consecutive days. The new charter provides that an "eligible voter" means a resident who is 18 years or older, and defines "resident" to mean a person who has resided in the Village for a period of 30 consecutive days and who currently resides in the Village for the majority of the calendar year. In addition, the Act clarifies that "resident" includes persons renting housing units in the village, as well as resident leaseholders. The Act decreases the minimum required number of regular meetings of the governing body from 6, under the current charter, to 4, under the new charter, and clarifies that they may be held virtually, in whole or in part, and that they are open to the public, which includes persons who are not eligible to vote. Finally, the Act removes the current charter's provisions concerning a town police force.
This Act adds "victim of kidnapping" to the definition section of the Address Confidentiality Act, allowing for kidnapping victims to become eligible for the protections offered by the Address Confidentiality Program. This amendment is recommended and supported by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children to better protect kidnapping victims and their families. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Resolution directs the Department of Health and Social Services to prepare reports on the Purchase of Care Program and directs the Department of Education to prepare reports on the child care capacity.
This Senate Joint Resolution directs the Office of Child Care Licensing to adopt an electronic record and filing system that will modernize the State’s child care system. The OCCL must provide a report regarding the adoption of an electronic record and filing system by January 31, 2025 with a plan to implement the system by June 1, 2026.
Maddy summaryThis bill is a formal resolution that congratulates high school students and their schools for winning the 2024 Delaware High School Mock Trial Program. It specifically recognizes the Charter School of Wilmington as the top winner, along with other teams that placed in the top five and a student who won a courtroom art competition. The resolution also honors a novice team for receiving a special award that celebrates ideals like civility and fairness. This measure does not change any laws or policies; instead, it serves as an official statement of appreciation from the state legislature for the participants' achievements in the competition.
Maddy summaryThis bill is a commemorative resolution that formally recognizes the 52nd anniversary of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in schools and programs receiving federal funding. It does not create new laws or change existing policies but instead serves to celebrate the historical progress made in educational equity and highlights specific achievements, such as the increase in women's participation in athletics and higher education. The resolution reaffirms the State of Delaware's commitment to upholding Title IX principles and encourages citizens to continue supporting gender equality in education.
This Senate concurrent resolution honors Wilmington attorney, historian and author Harvey Bernard Rubenstein on his 50 years of service as a member of the Delaware Heritage Commission, on the occasion of his being elevated by the Commission to emeritus status and thanks him for his years of service to our state as a truly public-spirited citizen.
This Act adopts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act ("the Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Act was adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2020 and has been adopted in 7 states, including New Jersey, and is currently pending in 9 states, including Pennsylvania. The Act protects the public’s right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment without abusive, expensive legal retaliation. Specifically, the Act combats the problem of strategic lawsuits against public participation, also called “SLAPPs.” A SLAPP may come in the form of a defamation, invasion of privacy, nuisance, or other claim, but its real goal is to entangle the defendant of a SLAPP in expensive litigation and stifle the ability to engage in constitutionally protected activities. While Delaware has an “anti-SLAPP” law (see §§ 8136 through 8138 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the law received a score of “D-“ from the Institute for Free Speech due to limited types of speech it protects and lack of basic protections provided by the Act.
This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 180. Like Senate Bill No. 180, this Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution that does all of the following: (1) Under Section 1 of this Act, limits the loss of the right to vote of an individual who is convicted of a felony to the period during which the individual is imprisoned due to the felony, or until the individual is pardoned, whichever comes first. (2) Brings Section 1 of this Act into conformity with the United States Constitution and federal law. Like in Section 1 of Senate Bill No. 180, Section 1 of this Act specifically does all of the following: (1) Removes the ability of the General Assembly to impose the forfeiture of the right of suffrage as a punishment for a crime. (2) Removes the list of felonies resulting in permanent removal of the right to vote. (3) Prohibits making the re-enfranchisement of an individual who is convicted of a felony contingent on the payment of a monetary payment of any kind. (4) Makes a conforming change based on proposed changes in Section 2 of this Act. (5) Updates the age at which a resident of this State is granted a right to vote to be 18 years or older, to conform the Delaware Constitution to the 26th Amendment to the United States Constitution. (6) Removes the durational residency requirements necessary to qualify to vote in this State. Durational residency requirements have been found unconstitutional because these requirements infringe on both the constitutional right to vote and the constitutional right to travel. See Dunn v. Blumstein, 92 S. Ct. 995 (1972) (finding 1-year residency requirement in a state and 3-month residency requirement in a county unconstitutional) and Marston v. Lewis, 93 S. Ct. 1211 (1973). A voter will still be required to be a resident at the time the voter registers. (7) Removes the literacy test requirement to qualify to vote in this State. Literacy tests have been used to disqualify Blacks and individuals who are immigrants or poor. Because of the discriminatory use of, and often subjective nature of, literacy tests, literacy tests are prohibited under federal law, see 52 U.S.C. § 10501, and likely unconstitutional under the 14th or 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, see Oregon v. Mitchell, 91 S. Ct. 260 (1970). (8) Makes a technical correction to remove an unnecessary comma. Like in Section 2 of Senate Bill No. 180, Section 2 of this Act removes the suspension of the right to vote as a punishment for violation of certain election offenses. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 180 by removing “work release” from the list of criminal sentences not included in the definition of “imprisonment” for purposes of Section 1 of this Act. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.
