Sen. Ernesto B. Lopez

This bill is intended to facilitate the growth and expansion of Delaware licensed craft alcoholic liquor companies within the State by permitting them to ship product manufactured on their licensed premises to entities under common ownership and control, as defined. This bill is not intended to unconditionally except craft alcoholic liquor companies from the traditional “three-tier” system.

This Act requires insurers to check if an individual owes child support arrears before making a payment to the individual and permits the Division of Child Support Services to attach a lien to an insurance payment awarded pursuant to a settlement or award. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act acknowledges that the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has been collecting natural resource data for years without the consent of the respective property owners. This Act further prohibits the dissemination of natural resource data to any person or entity without first disclosing the date and method of collection along with obtaining the written consent of the respective property owner. In the event written consent cannot be obtained during a two year period following the effective date of this Act, the Department must expunge, without the distribution or transmission to any other person or entity any natural resource data.

This bill makes it a crime to sell, transfer, buy, receive or possess a trigger crank or bump-fire device designed to accelerate the rate of fire of a semiautomatic rifle, making such weapon function more like an automatic weapon. A bump stock was used by the gunman in Las Vegas in October 2017. Violation of this provision is a Class E felony.

This Act is the first leg of a Constitutional Amendment reflecting the recommendations of the Advisory Panel to the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) on Potential Fiscal Controls and Budget Smoothing Mechanisms established as per House Joint Resolution 8 of the 149th General Assembly (Panel). This Act would build upon the State’s existing appropriation limit methodology by moving the Budget Reserve Account into a newly defined Budget Stabilization Fund, defining rules for deposits to and withdrawals from said Budget Stabilization Fund, and adding a check of the appropriation limit against an index comprised of relevant indicators of growth of the State’s economy. The Panel further recommended that any final adoption of the structural budget reforms included in this Act be accompanied by statutory enactment of structural reforms to the Personal Income Tax by broadening the tax base as initially recommended by the DEFAC Advisory Council of Revenues report dated May 2015 and further detailed in the Panel’s report dated June 1, 2018.

This Act, modeled on similar laws in Virginia and Maryland, requires a health care provider to provide notice to a patient at the time blood is drawn to perform a laboratory test for Lyme disease that explains the limitations of the test and instructs the patient to see their health care provider if the patient continues to experience unexplained symptoms.

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.

The Board of Clinical Social Work Examiners (“Board”) has worked several years to amend Chapter 39, Title 24 of the Delaware Code to update the statute governing social work licensure and practice in this State. The Board’s work has included collaboration with the Division of Professional Regulation, the Joint Legislative Oversight and Sunset Committee, several state agencies, and other stakeholders. The result of that work is this Act, which modernizes Chapter 39 to include a multi-tiered licensure system similar to those already in place in most other states, reflect current practices and standards, and clarify the law. Under current law, the Board regulates only licensed clinical social work (“LCSW”). The Board’s priority in amending Chapter 39 was to require licensure – with limited, specified exemptions – for all individuals who provide social work services in Delaware. Therefore, this Act establishes 3 tiers of social work and defines the scope of practice and licensure requirements for each tier: - LCSW is a specialty within the practice of master’s social work (“MSW”). An LCSW license requires the application of specialized clinical knowledge and advanced clinical skills. An LCSW licensee may provide psychotherapy, practice independently, diagnose, or supervise. An LCSW license requires: (1) a master’s degree in social work or a doctoral degree in a program the Board has approved, (2) the passing of an examination, and (3) the completion of 2 years of supervised experience under the supervision of a LCSW licensee. - MSW includes the application of specialized knowledge and advanced practice skills. Unlike LCSW, MSW does not include psychotherapy or diagnosing. An MSW license requires (1) a master’s degree in social work, and (2) the passing of an examination. - Baccalaureate social work (“BSW”) is the entry level of social work and generalist practice. A BSW license requires (1) a baccalaureate degree in social work, and (2) the passing of an examination. This Act includes a grandfather provision for MSW and BSW licenses. Under § 3907B, individuals who are already practicing within the scope of MSW or BSW but are not licensed may qualify for licensure depending on their education or experience. Section 3907B is limited to MSW and BSW; an LCSW license may not be grandfathered. To qualify under § 3907B, the following requirements must be met: - An MSW applicant must submit documentation from an employer that the individual has at least 10 years of work experience within the scope of MSW practice, or 2 years of work experience within the scope of MSW practice plus a master’s degree in social work, human services, social and behavioral sciences, psychology, sociology, or other related degree the Board has approved. - A BSW applicant must submit evidence of at least 3 years of work experience within the scope of BSW practice, or at least 1 year of work experience within the scope of BSW practice plus a baccalaureate degree in social work, human services, social and behavioral sciences, psychology, sociology, or other related degree the Board has approved. An application for licensure under the grandfathering provision must be submitted within 2 years of enactment of this Act. In addition to the grandfather provision, § 3903(c)(3) this Act exempts from licensure individuals who practice social work and are employed by a Delaware state agency or private or non-profit agency, including a hospital, as of the enactment date of this Act. However, an individual who is newly-employed or employed in a new position 5 years after the enactment date of this Act must be licensed under this chapter if the individual provides services as a social worker. “New position” is intended to capture circumstances in which an existing employee applies for different job either with the employee’s current employer or a different employer; “new position” does not apply to an employee’s existing position for which the job description and duties may be modified. The purpose of § 3903(c)(3) is to ensure that an individual who is currently employed in Delaware as a social worker but may not qualify for licensure under this Act is not disqualified from the individual’s current job. Other exemptions from licensure under this Act include: - An individual who is licensed in another jurisdiction, provided that the individual has made prior written application to the Board to practice social work in Delaware. This exemption is limited to 30 days per year. - Clergy, when engaging in activities within the scope of that individual’s ministerial duties. - Performance of assessments, such as basic information collection, informal observations, or screening and referral for eligibility for a program or service. - Development of service plans not related to a behavioral health diagnosis. - Participation as a member of a multi-disciplinary team to implement behavioral health services or a treatment plan, if specified conditions are met. This Act also includes the following: - Updates to make Chapter 39 consistent with the laws of other Title 24 boards, including amendments to Board membership and duties and disciplinary sanctions. - Clarification regarding Board members’ terms and limits on repeat terms. - Authorizing the Board to audit licensees’ continuing education credits and limit the number of times an applicant may attempt the national exam. - Clarifications and updates to license reciprocity. - Extending the amount of time a licensee may put his or her license in inactive status from 1 year to 3 years. - Removing the requirement of 45 continuing education credit hours to allow the Board to set by regulation the number of required credit hours. - Limiting the consideration of excessive use or abuse of drugs for disciplinary purposes to only the previous 10 years or current use. Existing law did not include a limit to how far back such use could have occurred to invoke disciplinary action. - Clarification that, under appropriate circumstances, licenses can be suspended or permanently revoked; removing all references to “temporary revocation.” - Clarification that exceeding the scope of one’s license is a ground for sanctions. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. Finally, this Act takes effect 1 year after enactment.

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.