This act names the Delaware portion of U.S. Route 301 between Route 1 and the Delaware Maryland State line as First Responders Memorial Highway.
This Act requires that the health education programs presented by the Department of Education include instruction on what it means to "consent" in the context of a sexual encounter.
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 Act is consumer and patient friendly.
This Bill enables the use of roof or ground mounted solar systems on privately owned residential dwellings by making covenants or other restrictions that effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the installation of solar photovoltaic systems in Delaware void and unenforceable, regardless of the date recorded. This Bill also explains that it is the policy of the State of Delaware to protect the public health, safety, and welfare by encouraging the development and use of renewable resources and to remove obstacles thereto. This Bill further provides for costs and reasonable attorneys' fees to be awarded to the prevailing party in any litigation arising under the provisions of this Section. This Bill does not render void and unenforceable reasonable restrictions on roof or ground mounted solar systems.
The Delaware Equal Accommodations Law, Chapter 45 of Title 6 of the Delaware Code, prevents discrimination against people because of their race, age, marital status, creed, color, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. This Act enhances the protections under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law by prohibiting retaliatory discrimination against an individual for either of the following: (1) Opposing an act or practice that is an unlawful practice under the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law. (2) Making a charge, testifying, assisting, or participating in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing to enforce the Delaware Equal Accommodations Law.
This Act prohibits the practice known as patient brokering, which is the practice where patient brokers are paid a fee to place insured people in treatment centers so that the treatment centers receive thousands of dollars in insurance claim payments for each patient. Increasingly, patient brokers fraudulently enroll patients in low-deductible health plans with out-of-network treatment benefits. Patient brokers target individuals with substance use disorders, who are told that they are receiving their treatment through a scholarship. Not only does this perpetrate fraud against insurers, when insurance plans are terminated for nonpayment of the premium, individuals are discharged from the treatment program with no services or housing and often in a state that is far from home.
This Act adds coverage for Medication Assisted Treatment ("MAT") for drug and alcohol dependencies to the mental health parity laws for health insurance. This Act requires health insurance carriers to provide coverage for prescription medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for MAT at no greater financial burden than for prescription medication for other illness or disease, without step therapy requirements, and at the lowest tier of the drug formulary. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Currently, non-resident pass-through entities, trusts, and estates are required to pay estimated income taxes anticipated to be due as a result of real estate transactions before each deed is recorded. The payment of estimated income taxes before each deed is recorded has become a burden on entities that transfer multiple parcels and on the Division of Revenue. In order to maximize time and improve personnel efficiencies within the Division of Revenue, this Act provides the Director with the ability to exempt nonresident pass-through entities involved in the sale or exchange of Delaware real estate from the requirement of remitting estimated income taxes due with each deed to the Recorder before the deed is recorded. This act only allows the Director to grant exemptions as to the timing of the payment of estimated income taxes; it does not allow the Director to grant exemptions from paying income taxes.
Daylight saving time has existed in one form or another for over 100 years. In that time, Delawareans have become accustomed to the 8 months of daylight saving time each year. This Act provides for Delaware to permanently remain on daylight saving time. This Act achieves this by doing the following: (1) Requiring, in Section 4 of this Act, that the Governor request that the United States Secretary of Transportation place Delaware in the Atlantic standard time zone if Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland each enact a law requesting the Secretary to place their respective state in the Atlantic standard time zone. The Secretary is authorized under 15 U.S.C. § 261 to define the limits of each time zone and thus may place Delaware in the Atlantic standard time zone. (2) Exercising, in Section 2 of this Act, the discretion granted to Delaware under 15 U.S.C. § 260a to exclude itself from daylight saving time. Section 5 of this Act makes clear that this exclusion takes effect on the first Sunday in November once the United States Secretary of Transportation places Delaware in the Atlantic standard time zone. This results in Delaware permanently remaining 1 hour ahead of eastern standard time.
This Act is identical to Senate Bill No. 127 from the 149th General Assembly, which was passed by the Senate and reported out of the House Administration Committee. This Act corrects an inadvertent error in Delaware law that has permitted people younger than 18 years of age to vote in final-stage elections. People must be 18 years of age or older to be eligible to vote in a final-stage election such as general elections, special elections, school board elections, and school district referendums. However, people younger than 18 years of age can vote in any preliminary election, such as primary elections, if they will be 18 years of age at the time of the final-stage election.
