Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos

This Act requires physicians who are discontinuing business, leaving the State, or terminating a patient-physician relationship for any other reason to notify affected patients at least thirty days prior to the discontinuation of services via first class mail and an electronic message if electronic communication is available. It removes the requirement that physicians ending a patient-physician relationship publish a notice in a newspaper of daily circulation. Notice sent to patients must include information about how the patient may obtain their medical records and information about other physician services in the area that are available to patients who will require continued medical care. This Act further adds that a patient receive notice by electronic message, if available, when a physician dies and has not transferred patient records to another health-care provider. Finally, this Act makes technical changes to create consistency with those sections being amended by SB 74 of the 152nd General Assembly, relating to the transfer of medical records in other health-care professions.

This Act prohibits a pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or scrap metal processor from purchasing or otherwise acquiring a gift card or other item in its original packaging unless the individual offering the item for sale produces a receipt or proof of purchase at the time of transaction. The Department of Homeland Security or its designee may seize an item found in violation of Chapter 23, Title 24 for a period of 30 days to allow the pawnbroker, secondhand dealer, or scrap metal processor an opportunity to provide a receipt or proof of ownership.

This Act directs the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to work with PJM Interconnection, LLC to study the transmission impacts of offshore wind development, to work with neighboring states on offshore wind transmission, and to study and report back to the Governor and the General Assembly on a process for procuring offshore wind power.

This Bill amends the Delaware Energy Act, Title 29 of the Delaware Code, Chapter 80, Subchapter II, by updating and expanding upon the duties of the State Energy Office (located in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Climate, Coastal and Energy). In Section 1 of the Bill, the General Assembly finds and declares that: (a) Planning for Delaware's energy future is vitally important to Delaware’s economy and all of its citizens; (b) Developments in the energy sector of the economy are proceeding at a fast pace, and devoting state resources to the energy sector will be beneficial; and (c) Transforming the delivery of energy to end users is expected to require new programs, planning, and workforce training. Section 1 of the Bill also declares the intent of the General Assembly to provide for the development and implementation of State energy policy and programs in accordance with the State Energy Plan, the State Climate Action Plan, and other documents developed by the Governor's Energy Advisor Council and adopted by the State Energy Office. Section 2 of the Bill commits the State Energy Office to coordinate and partner with state, local, regional, and federal agencies, energy-related boards and councils, energy utilities, and other stakeholders in carrying out its duties under Subchapter II of Chapter 80. The Bill requires the State Energy Office to develop and update, at least every five years, a comprehensive State Energy Plan and to support the State's Climate Action Plan. Among other things, the Bill also requires the State Energy Office to do the following: (a) Provide technical and administrative support to the Governor’s Energy Advisory Council; (b) Assist the State, energy utilities, and private citizens to secure federal funds made available to states and energy utilities to support emerging energy technologies, energy workforce development, and renewable energy and decarbonization programs; (c) Serve as a liaison between State and federal agencies and energy agencies in other states and regions on energy programs and policy matters; and (d) Monitor and act in a coordinating capacity to promote the planning and buildout of the statewide energy grid to optimize resources, including in coordination the Public Service Commission. The Bill expressly authorizes the State Energy Office, through the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, to intervene in dockets before the Public Service Commission in proceedings arising directly from the matters enumerated Subchapter II, Chapter 80, Title 29 of the Delaware Code. This provision is being added to Title 29, Section 8053 of the Delaware Code, and is not intended to limit or restrict, in any way, the Department’s rights or ability to intervene in any other proceedings of the Public Service Commission. Rather, the provision is intended to emphasize the importance of the Department’s input in Public Service Commission proceedings that arise directly from matters falling within Subchapter II, Chapter 80 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code. This is a Substitute Bill that incorporates a number of proposed changes to Senate Bill No. 7, including those contained in Senate Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill No. 7, and are summarized as follows: (a) On lines 6 to 10, the addition of a "Whereas clause" stating that State Energy Policy should consider the costs and benefits of energy policy options for all Delawareans, including utility ratepayers, and the health and environmental impacts on existing overburdened and underserved communities; (b) On lines 55 to 59, the addition of language the it is the intent of the General Assembly to provide for the development and implementation of State energy policy and programs in accordance with the State Energy Plan, the Climate Action Plan, and other documents adopted by the State Energy Office as recommended by the Governor’s Energy Advisory Council; (c) On lines 75 to 80, the addition of language about the State Energy Office partnering with local and regional energy agencies, the Delaware Division of the Public Advocate, and the Delaware Department of Transportation in carrying out its duties under the Delaware Energy Act; (d) On lines 82 and 83, the addition of the reference to "energy utilities" as entities that the State Energy Office will assist in securing federal funding for Delaware renewable energy and decarbonization programs; and (e) On lines 123 to 128, the addition of a provision authorizing the State Energy Office, through the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, to intervene in Public Service Commission proceedings involving the Delaware Energy Act.

This resolution designates August 31, 2023, as "International Overdose Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware, affirms the importance of overdose awareness, and encourages expanded efforts to keep Delaware residents properly informed of the grief that comes from losing a loved one to overdose.

This Act, known as the Delaware Climate Change Solutions Act of 2023, follows the issuance of Delaware’s Climate Action Plan in 2021, and establishes a statutory target of greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the medium and long term to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions on the State. The Act establishes a process of regular updates to the Climate Action Plan to serve as the framework to achieve the targeted emissions reductions and develop resilience strategies for the State, creates Climate Change Officers in certain Key Cabinet-Level Departments who will assist DNREC in the ongoing implementation of the Climate Action Plan, requires State agencies to consider climate change in decision-making, rulemaking, and procurement, and requires an Implementation Report every 2 years on the progress of the State towards meeting the statutory targets.

The bill adds visual impairments including blindness to the list of programs to be conducted on a 12-month schedule.

This Act requires every public school and charter school to provide students enrolled in kindergarten with an oral health screening by the last student attendance day of each school year. Notification to the parent or guardian must be done and a copy of the oral health screening results sent home. A referral to a dentist, if required, will be provided by the Bureau of Oral Health and Dental Services. The Division of Public Health (DPH), through the Delaware Smile Check Program, offers school-based oral screenings, at no cost to the school districts, schools, including charter schools, or the students. This Substitute Bill takes out the requirement to advise teachers of the results of the oral health screenings, including Special Education Coordinators and Educational Diagnosticians of students with an IEP. This Substitute Bill also removes any follow-up requirements, by the school, with the student’s parent or guardian. The Substitute Bill also makes the school requirements, under this Act, contingent on the Delaware Smile Check Program remaining in effect or a comparable program to provide free oral health screenings to all enrolled kindergarten students. This Act takes effect for the 2024-2025 school year.

This Act revises the existing crime of endangering the welfare of a child by providing or permitting a child to consume or inhale unprescribed controlled substances in the following ways: 1. Prohibits a person from intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly making controlled substances or prescription drugs available to a child through exposure, consumption, or inhalation. 2. Creates new penalties for endangering the welfare of a child through exposure, consumption, or inhalation of drugs. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 28 of Article IV of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to expand the scope of an existing crime within the jurisdiction of the Court of Common Pleas, Family Court, or Justice of the Peace Court.

Sections 1 through 6 of this Act revise the State's existing child abuse laws as follows: (1) Revises Child Abuse in the Third Degree by removing extraneous language and redesignating it as Child Abuse in the Fourth Degree. (2) Revises Child Abuse in the Second Degree by redesignating it as Child Abuse in the Third Degree and making it a class D felony. (3) Revises Child Abuse in the First Degree by removing extraneous language, adding a sentence enhancement for certain aggravating factors, and redesignating it as Child Abuse in the Second Degree. (4) Creates a new crime of Child Abuse in the First Degree, a class A felony, when a person intentionally or recklessly causes serious physical injury to a child and that injury causes permanent disfigurement, permanent impairment of health, or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily organ. (5) Creates a new crime of Child Torture, a class B felony. (6) Creates a new crime of Continuous Child Abuse when a person intentionally or recklessly engages in 3 or more acts of child abuse or child torture over a period of time not less than 3 weeks in duration. Sections 7 through 9 and 11 through 14 of this Act make conforming amendments to the Delaware Code based on the revisions made by Sections 1 through 6 of this Act. Section 10 of this Act designates Child Abuse in the First Degree and Child Abuse in the Second Degree as violent felonies.