Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos

This bill will be an updated version of the Uniform Accountancy Act. The bill removes reference to Substantial Equivalency and allows for an alternative pathway to licensure for Automatic Mobility and the ability to work across state lines. This bill makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act requires additional reporting and disclosure related to the use of mechanical restraint and seclusion in public schools. While public school personnel cannot use mechanical restraint or seclusion on students in absence of a waiver, law-enforcement officers can. This Act requires the Department of Education to collect data from public schools about the use of mechanical restraint and seclusion, in addition to the physical restraint data that is already collected. The Department of Education shall include the mechanical restraint and seclusion data in its annual report. This Act adds a specific date by which the annual report is due. Additionally, the annual report must be submitted to certain entities, including the Delaware School Boards Association and the boards of education of school districts and the boards of directors of charter schools. This Act also adds mechanical restraint and seclusion to the parental notice requirement and special procedures and safeguard requirements that already exist for use of physical restraint. Though § 4112F defines “chemical restraint”, chemical restraint cannot be performed by anyone in a public school. Therefore, this Act does not add chemical restraint to data collection, reporting, parental notification, or safeguard requirements. Furthermore, this Act adds a definition of school resource officer (SRO) to clarify that SROs are law-enforcement officers. This Act requires the Department of Education to amend its regulations in accordance with the definitions in this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including correctly formatting lists and revising § 4112F(d) of Title 14, the subsection addressing particular training requirements for SROs, to account for the creation of a definition of SRO. One technical correction in § 4112F(d) is changing a “shall not” to a “may not” as it applies to the prohibition against the use of SROs who have not complied with mandated training requirements. According to Rule 12 in the Legislative Drafting Manual, “shall not” should be avoided in legislative drafting. Furthermore, both “may not” and “must not” are proper ways to express a prohibition in the Delaware Code. They convey the same level of mandatory prohibition except that “may not” qualifies a verb in active voice while “must not” qualifies an inactive verb or an active verb in passive voice. This technical correction still prohibits school districts and charter schools from using an SRO who has not satisfied the training requirements in § 4112F(d). This Act takes effect on August 1, 2025.

This Act updates and modernizes the Delaware Self-Service Storage Facilities Act. The Act clarifies that self-storage rental agreements may be delivered and accepted electronically. The bill borrows language from the Delaware Residential Landlord Tenant Act regarding the legal effect of unsigned rental agreements. The bill addresses vehicle storage at a self-service storage facility and clarifies the disposition of property following the termination or nonrenewal of the rental agreement by either the occupant or owner. Finally, the Act updates the requirements to allow advertisements be placed on websites that regularly advertise property for auction or sale, making Delaware law consistent with most jurisdictions, including Maryland and the District of Columbia.

This Act provides a pathway for former defendants in eviction actions to have the eviction filings against them shielded from public view. Being the subject of an eviction filing can prevent an individual from securing housing for years after any judgment in the case has been satisfied. Even tenants who prevailed in eviction actions may be denied housing by landlords who turn away any applicant with a prior eviction filing, regardless of the outcome of the case. The well-known health, social, and economic consequences of eviction can thus linger for years after an eviction filing, and trap individuals – including many children and families – in a cycle of poverty and housing instability. The effects are particularly acute among already marginalized groups, such as Black and female renters. By shielding eviction records when an individual has met certain requirements, this Act will help break down barriers to stable housing and economic security. Under this Act, the Court must grant shielding upon a motion by the defendant if the Court finds any of the following to be true: 1. The judgment against the defendant was a judgment on the merits, a default judgment, or a stipulated judgment, 5 or more years have passed since the judgment was entered, the defendant has satisfied any monetary award included in the judgment, and the defendant has had no other similar judgments within 5 years of the defendant’s motion to shield. 2. The parties resolved the action through a stipulated agreement, and the defendant has complied with the terms of the stipulated agreement. 3. The plaintiff withdrew the complaint. 4. The Court dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint. 5. The final judgment was in favor of the defendant. 6. The plaintiff and the defendant have agreed to the shielding. 7. The shielding of the records is clearly in the interests of justice. The Court may not charge a filing fee for a motion to shield. Once the Court has granted the shielding, the Court has 45 days to effectuate it. An individual whose eviction record has been shielded can answer questions about prior evictions as if the shielded action was never filed. This Act is a second Substitute for Senate Bill No. 115. Like Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 115, Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill No. 115 does the following: 1. Adds judgement by stipulation to the list of judgments for which shielding is available after 5 years if the defendant has satisfied any monetary award included in the judgment. 2. Creates exceptions that make the shielded records available to the Department of Justice and the defendant in the action. 3. Allows for records of shielded actions to be available to the public for purposes of preserving case law, provided that all identifying information is redacted or otherwise obscured. 4. Makes minor technical changes. The primary differences between Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 115 and Senate Substitute No. 2 for Senate Bill No. 115 are as follows: 1. Senate Substitute No. 2 replaces the term “expungement” with the term “shielding” to better reflect how the Court will be handling records. 2. Senate Substitute No. 2 eliminates the provision in Senate Substitute No. 1 that would have allowed certain eviction records to be automatically shielded. 3. Senate Substitute No. 2 adds a requirement that a defendant seeking shielding under paragraph (a)(1) of § 5720 (lines 6 through 9) have no other similar judgments against them within 5 years of the motion to shield. Senate Substitute No 2. also adds language specifying that redacted records are being made available for purposes of preserving important case law, and that the Court is responsible only for databases and systems that it controls.

This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 156. Like Senate Bill No. 156, this Substitute prohibits the reporting of medical debt to consumer reporting agencies and prohibits any medical debt from being included on a consumer report. Since 2023, at least 9 other states have passed laws that prohibit or restrict the reporting of medical debt on credit reports, including California, New Jersy, and Virginia. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 156 in that it (1) adds language to the purpose section of the statute making it clear that the intent of the chapter is for medical debt not to be used in credit, employment, or housing decisions; (2) removes the proposed definition of medical debt information and instead adds a definition of medical debt; and (3) removes the proposed prohibition language on using a credit report containing medical debt information from being used when making decisions regarding someone’s credit, employment, or housing.

The Delaware National Guard provides financial assistance to eligible service members for certain postsecondary education tuition and fees. Under the current education benefits program, the Delaware National Guard reimburses service members for tuition and fees the service members have already paid. But young service members often cannot take advantage of this program because they cannot afford to pay upfront for tuition and fees. This also hurts Delaware National Guard recruiting efforts because potential service members may choose to join National Guard programs in other states that do not require service members to pay upfront for tuition and fees. Keeping the Delaware National Guard fully staffed is essential to responding to state emergencies. Lack of staff also leads the Department of Defense to shift positions from the Delaware National Guard to other states that can recruit at higher levels than Delaware. This results in reduced mission capability in Delaware and less federal funding coming to Delaware.  This Act amends the existing code relating to Delaware National Guard education benefits by switching from a system that reimburses service members to a system that pays certain tuition and fees, on behalf of a service member, directly to a Delaware postsecondary institution. This change allows more service members to use education benefits, which will improve Delaware National Guard recruiting and retention, and enhance the professional education qualifications of its members. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and clarifies that the tuition assistance provided for Delaware private postsecondary institutions is based on the average tuition for state-supported postsecondary institutions. This Act is effective immediately and is implemented on July 1, 2026, to allow updates to rules, regulations, and forms for the Delaware National Guard tuition assistance program.

This Act is intended to supplement protections under federal law for members of the military, their families, and veterans by adding “military status” as a protected class for purposes of the State’s public accommodations, housing, insurance, education, and employment laws. Technical corrections are also made to existing statutory language to conform with the requirements of the Legislative Drafting Manual. This House Substitute No. 1 adds language to clarify that distinctions or differential treatment based on military status that are allowed by State law or regulation, federal law or regulation, or government contract, are not unfair or discriminatory practices. It also updates existing statutory language that was changed by 84 Del. Laws c 429.

Excess skin and subcutaneous tissue can create a risk of rashes or infections, make walking and movement difficult, and make everyday chores difficult. An example of treatment that removes excess skin and subcutaneous tissue is a panniculectomy. A panniculectomy is an operative procedure that contours, or changes the shape and form, of the abdomen by removing significant excess skin and subcutaneous tissue. Removal of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue can improve a patient’s health and quality of life. This Act requires individual health insurance plans delivered under Chapter 33 of Title 18 and group and blanket health insurance plans delivered under Chapter 35 of Title 18 to cover medically necessary removal of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue, including panniculectomies. This Act also requires the State employee health insurance plan and State Medicaid plans to cover medically necessary removal of excess skin and subcutaneous tissue, including panniculectomies. Medically necessary means as defined in § 3371(8) for individual health insurance plans and as defined in § 3581(8) for group and blanket health insurance plans, State employee health insurance plans, and State Medicaid plans. This Act applies to all policies, contracts, or certicates issued, renewed, modified, alterered, amended, or resissued after December 31, 2026.

This Act makes changes to Chapter 103 of Title 16, pertaining to the Delaware Health Information Network (“DHIN”). Section 1 makes a technical correction. Section 2 updates the composition of DHIN’s Board of Directors (“Board”) to reflect recent practice with respect to Governor-appointed boards. It removes the concept of positions held for certain groups or industries and replaces it with a general obligation to appoint members broadly representative of DHIN’s stakeholder groups and the general public, with an emphasis on individuals with particular expertise that will benefit DHIN and its public mission. It also reduces the size of the board from 19 to 13 members to align with the historical size of DHIN’s Board and to implement current best practices with respect to Board size, and specifies that a member’s term may end before 3 years if the member resigns or is removed. Sections 3 and 4 are cleanup provisions that remove references to the rules and regulations of the Health Care Commission that previously governed DHIN’s operations, but that have been replaced by DHIN’s own rules and regulations. Section 3 also updates the statute to reflect DHIN’s preferred nomenclature as it relates to data senders, data recipients, and other users of DHIN’s service. Section 3 does not change DHIN’s ability to charge fees for services. Section 5 removes a reference to the Delaware Center for Health Innovation, which is no longer operating, and replaces it with a reference to the State. Section 5 also defines “Triple Aim”. Section 6 removes a reference to Statement 6 of the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Policy as it relates to antitrust regulations on the exchange of price and cost information. Statement 6 was withdrawn by the Biden Administration in February 2023. The new language leaves open the possibility that additional guidance will be provided in the future and provides that any release of information will need to comply with the antitrust rules and regulations in effect at that time.

This Act adds that the Director or Deputy Director of the Division of Family Services may have a designee consent to voluntary admission and sign for admission to a psychiatric hospital for youth in DFS custody. This reflects best practices and matches the current process for surgical consents for youth in DFS custody, and under DFS policy, a designee may only act as a designee to take such action with the direct approval of the Director or Deputy Director.