Sen. Jack Walsh

Chiropractic care is a drugless system of health care. It is uniquely positioned as a treatment for back pain and chronic headaches, which a peer-reviewed medical journal has indicated are alarming drivers of opioid-related deaths. Other peer-reviewed studies have indicated that chiropractic physician care reduces opioid usage rates, costs significantly less than the opioid treatment path, and contributes to preventing addiction and overdose death. In Delaware, back problems are a top-three cost driver and are among the most common conditions resulting in disability and lost productivity. This Act helps to address these issues in Delaware and improves access for Delawareans seeking opioid-free treatment by ensuring chiropractors are reimbursed at least at the level of Medicare and not at historically persistent lower rates.

This Act would revise the definition of Committee to include the Lenape Indian Tribe of Delaware in the body that determines the treatment and disposition of Native American unmarked burials and human skeletal remains. This Act would also add a new definition of a Committee convened by the Director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs to address discoveries of non-Native American unmarked burials and human skeletal remains, including those of enslaved individuals and undetermined cultural affiliation. This Act also adds new definitions for “lineal descendant” and “proven kinship” to replace the undefined term “next of kin.” This Act would also clarify responsibilities of various parties and encourage preservation of unmarked burials in place, consistent with the purposes of the Chapter. This Act would make failure to report a discovery of remains a prohibited act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and removes erroneous references to “subchapter.”

Senate Substitute No. 1 for Senate Bill No. 48 (SS 1 for SB 48) of the 150th General Assembly enacted a requirement that contractors bidding for large public works contracts provide craft training of apprentices and journeymen. This Act clarifies the craft training requirement and increases options for how contractors can satisfy this requirement. This Act clarifies when craft training is required as follows: 1. Moves the requirement that the Department of Labor maintain a list of crafts for which there are approved and registered training programs to Chapter 2 of Title 19. 2. Revises the definition of “craft training” in § 6902 of Title 29 to mean a program on the list of approved and registered training programs required under Chapter 2 of Title 19. 3. Clarifies the craft training requirement by creating a new statute for the craft training requirement that establishes when craft training must be included in a large public works contract, that the requirement applies to each craft included in the contract, and when the list of crafts for which there are approved programs in Delaware must be updated each year. 4. Makes corresponding revisions to the penalty section of § 6962 of Title 29 to reference the new location of the craft training program requirement. As enacted by SS 1 for SB 48, contractors can satisfy this craft training requirement by providing the craft training themselves or through agreement with other organizations. This Act clarifies and expands the ways that contractors can satisfy the craft training requirement. Under this Act, a contractor can satisfy the craft training requirement by doing any of the following for each craft in the contract for which craft training is required: 1. Having at least 1 active apprentice in a craft training program approved by and registered with any state apprenticeship agency or the United States Department of Labor for the duration of the project. 2. Having at least 1 active apprentice who completes an approved and registered craft training program within the 6 months before the contract was executed. 3. Making a payment for the craft into a new Apprenticeship and Training Fund. The amount of the payment will be established for each craft in an amount that is equal to 4 times the average annual cost of the vocational-technical programs providing craft training for 1 individual for the craft. The Apprenticeship and Training Fund will be used to expand and promote adult trade extension and apprenticeship programs. This Act also creates a penalty for failing to comply with the craft training requirement. Contractors who comply with the craft training requirement by making the payment to the Apprenticeship and Training Fund must make the payment before the contract is executed. For contracts where the craft training requirement will be satisfied through having an apprentice participating in or who has recently completed a craft training program, a contractor who fails to comply with this requirement must make the payment due for the craft to the Apprenticeship and Training Fund and pay a penalty in an amount that does not exceed 10% of that payment. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11(a) of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to impose a fee.

This Act requires that prevailing wages be paid to laborers and mechanics working on all University of Delaware construction sites or renovation projects that exceed a certain cost. The prevailing wages are set by the Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs, and apply to various classes of laborers and mechanics, according to the county in which the work is performed.

This Act makes clear that the Town of Delmar, Delaware is a public employer for purposes of the Police Officers' and Firefighters' Employment Relations Act, Chapter 16 of Title 19 of the Delaware Code, and Chapter 16 of Title 19 applies to the Town, including in a cooperative agreement between the Town of Delmar, Delaware and the Town of Delmar, Maryland.

This Senate Joint Resolution designates August 31, 2021 as "International Overdose Awareness Day" in the State of Delaware and directs the State flag to be lowered to half-staff at State facilities and encourages local governments, businesses, and Delawareans to do the same.

This Act establishes a mental health services unit for Delaware elementary schools. The unit is at a ratio of 250 full-time equivalent students grades K-5 for a full-time school counselor, school social worker, or licensed clinical social worker. Additionally a unit ratio of 700 full time equivalent students for grades K-5 for employment of a full-time school psychologist. This Act defines “mental health services” as prevention, response, and coordination services delivered to students in elementary schools. Mental Health disorders are the most common health problem for school aged youth. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one in five youth are affected by a mental health disorder. Additionally, 50% of lifetime mental illnesses begin by age 14. Untreated mental illness leads to negative outcomes including increased risk of dropout, homelessness, substance abuse, other chronic illnesses, incarceration, and possibly suicide. According to the National Alliance on Mental Health, ninety percent of people who have taken their own life have had an underlying mental health condition, and suicides are on the rise. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides are now the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-14. Delaware schools need trained and experienced mental health professionals to provide prevention and support programs and services to students. Currently, as reported by Delaware school districts, 86% of elementary schools do not employ a school social worker, and ratios of students to school counselors and school psychologists far exceed national best practices. This bill will lower ratios and increase access to mental health services for elementary school students.

This allows a policy to be purchased by the Insurance Coverage Office to cover cancer for active Volunteer Firefighters, Paid Firefighters, Fire Marshals, Fire Instructors, Fire Police, EMTs, and Paramedics of the State of Delaware exclusive of those in private sector. This policy will be funded by an assessment calculated based on reporting of gross premiums by insurers writing certain lines of insurance under § 705 of Title 18. The benefits will provide a lump sum for early and advance stages of cancer and monthly income benefits for 36 months.

This Act creates the Disabled Veterans Property Tax Relief and Education Fund. Pursuant to this legislation, school districts are authorized to create a credit against school taxes for up to the full amount of school tax liability for property owned by a veteran with a 100% disability rating who is domiciled in this state. The full amount of such credit will be reimbursed by a transfer from the State’s General Fund to the County Receiver for distribution to such school districts. It has a delayed effective date to allow for implementation of the program.

Section 1 of this Act modifies Delaware’s Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to allow recipients to choose the most beneficial credit to be applied against their Delaware Personal Income Taxes. Under this Act, recipients can choose between a non-refundable credit of up to 20% of the value of the corresponding federal EITC or a refundable EITC credit of up to 4.5% of the value of the corresponding federal EITC. Section 2 of this Act makes the change to Delaware’s EITC effective for the tax year in which the Secretary of Finance provides the Registrar of Regulations with notice that the personal income tax release of the Integrated Revenue Administration System is implemented. This delay in effective date is necessary to ensure that tax law changes can be properly and efficiently implemented in the Division of Revenue’s modernized Integrated Revenue Administration System, which is currently under development. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.