This resolution recognizes law enforcement officers killed and injured in the line of duty.
This act designates rescue dogs as the official state dog.
This Concurrent Resolution recognizes September 2021 as "Prostate Cancer Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware
This Act exempts an individual from having to pay the revoked license or driving privileges reinstatement fee if the individual is eligible for and applies for reinstatement of the individual’s license or driving privileges within 1 year of their release from Department of Correction Level V supervision. The purpose of this Act is to limit financial barriers that may impede an individual from successfully reintegrating into the community after that individual has served their time. The ability to legally drive is imperative for an individual to secure and maintain employment, access educational opportunities, and foster family and community connection that may lower recidivism. Additionally, if an individual was incarcerated, the individual likely could not renew their license or driving privileges before the license or privilege lapsed. This Act makes it easier for an individual reintegrating to restore their license or driving privileges. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act authorizes the process of natural organic reduction to be used in this State. Natural organic reduction is also known as human composting. This process uses large tanks or similar vessels to hold human remains together with straw, wood chips, or other natural materials for about 30 days. The human remains and organic materials, mixed together with warm air, are periodically turned and the composting process eventually results in reduction of the human remains to a soil material that can then be provided to the deceased individual's family. Natural organic reduction is considered a more eco-friendly cremation alternative, forgoing the usage of formaldehyde and the release of carbon dioxide and mercury into the atmosphere. The process also uses 1/8 the energy of cremation. Section 10 of this Act removes "and by the Attorney General or a deputy attorney general", which was overlooked when Chapter 164 of Volume 68 of the Laws of Delaware was enacted, removing similar language in § 3159 of Title 16. Section 20 of this Act replaces the citation to § 3162 of Title 16 with a citation to § 3159. Section 3162 was transferred to § 3159 when Chapter 31 was reenacted by Chapter 274 of Volume 68 of the Laws of Delaware, but this citation was overlooked. This Act takes effect the earlier of 1 year from the date of the Act's enactment or notice in the Register of Regulations that final regulations to implement this Act have been adopted. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. 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.
A 2019 study found the following: (1) Black women are 80% more likely to change their natural hair to meet social norms or expectations at work. (2) Black women are 50% more likely to be sent home or know of another Black woman sent home from work because of her hair. (3) Black women are 30% more likely to be made aware of a formal workplace appearance policy. Delaware law prohibits discrimination on the basis of race in a variety of settings. This Act makes clear that race also includes traits historically associated with race, including hair texture and a protective hairstyle, which includes braids, locks, and twists. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This bill requires all public and charter schools which have students in grades 6-12 to provide free feminine hygiene products in 50% of the bathrooms used by students who can have a menstrual cycle. This bill also requires schools to publish on its website and post in its common areas the locations of the bathrooms where the hygiene products are provided. Finally, this bill provides that each school must consult with its school nurse regarding the products to be provided.
Delaware, like the rest of the country and the world, has been struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic since March of 2020. The worst outbreaks have occurred in facilities where people live and/or work in tight communal settings – long-term care facilities, prisons, and meat processing plants. There is no real way to prevent an outbreak and the spread of a highly contagious disease inside a prison where inmates share cells, communal recreation and dining spaces, and in some instances reside in large bunk rooms. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the operations of the prisons as they struggle with staff shortages due to illness and quarantines, and curtail activities to reduce opportunities for community spread within the prison. This bill seeks to address both the COVID-19 pandemic as well as any future public health emergency that impacts prison operations and conditions by creating a “public health emergency credit” that would automatically be awarded when a public health emergency is declared. Credits would be awarded at the rate of 6 months for every month served during the public health emergency up to a maximum reduction in sentence of 1 year. This has the practical effect of moving forward release dates for inmates whose release would come within the next year regardless of the emergency. This will reduce the prison population in an orderly and fair manner, relieving pressure on staff and creating better conditions for those inmates who remain incarcerated to socially distance and control the spread of infectious disease. By applying additional credit towards sentence completion, this legislation also recognizes that the conditions of confinement during a public health emergency like the current one can be considered significantly more punishing – since visitation, communications, programming, and recreation are all significantly negatively impacted by the emergency conditions and modifications to operations.
This resolution recognizes April 10 through 16, 2021 as "Week of the Young Child" in Delaware.
This Resolution recognizes April 2021 as "Parkinson's Disease Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware.
