Sen. Jack Walsh

This Resolution establishes the Delaware Aquaculture Task Force.

This concurrent resolution expresses the State of Delaware General Assembly’s concern for the loss of life in the Israel-Hamas war and calls on the legislature and the citizens of Delaware to recognize our common humanity and the shared strength of our diversity.

The Voluntary Assessment Center was created by legislative action in 1976 (60 Del. Laws Section 509) to allow recipients of minor traffic violations to pay the fine and costs associated with the violation without the need to appear in the Justice of the Peace Court. Section 709 (i) advises that "Payment of the prescribed fine, costs, and penalty assessment is an admission of guilt, a waiver of the right to a hearing, and a complete satisfaction of the violation." Upon payment, the Court can consider the matter closed and advise the Division of Motor Vehicles of the violation for the Division's recordance purposes. Formerly, those who were unable to pay the fine in one payment were required instead to submit to a court date (which engendered additional court costs) if only to request a payment plan - a practice that seemed patently unfair. Accordingly, in 2012, the Court established a process where the Voluntary Assessment Center could accept payment of fines incrementally. Although more equitable, this new process caused unforeseen consequences. Because the current definition of payment is the total amount due, if a person makes a partial payment but does not completely pay the balance of the fine, the Court cannot consider the matter closed. The Division is not made aware of the violation and the case remains in administrative limbo. Currently, no capiases or warrants are issued for unpaid Voluntary Assessments. Instead, the Division places a flag on an individual's license and registration. It is usually only years later when an individual goes to renew their license that they respond to the Court to complete payment. Redefining payment in the definition of this section will further streamline the Court's administrative process of maintaining the record and will report to the Division the associated data in a timely manner.

This bill precludes the so-called LGBTQ+ "panic" defense that seeks to partially or completely excuse or justify a defendant from full accountability for the commission of a crime on the grounds that the actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth of the victim is sufficient to explain, excuse, or justify the defendant's conduct, or contributes to or causes the defendant's mental state, or that the defendant’s reaction thereto constitutes a mental illness, mental defect, or mental disorder sufficient to excuse or justify the defendant's conduct (including under circumstances in which the victim made a nonviolent romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant or in which the defendant and the victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship). Sections 1 and 3 of this bill move the definitions for gender identity and sexual orientation currently in the hate crimes statute to the general definitions section of the Criminal Code to maintain standard definitions of these terms throughout the Criminal Code. Section 2 of this bill provides that in any prosecution or sentencing for an offense: (i) a defendant is not justified in using force against another based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth; (ii) for the purposes of determining whether there is a reasonable explanation or excuse for the existence of extreme emotional disturbance or other asserted mitigating factor or circumstance, such explanation or excuse is not reasonable if it is based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth; and (iii) a defendant does not suffer from a mental illness, mental defect, mental disorder, serious mental disorder, psychiatric disorder, or other impairment affecting or impacting the defendant’s mental state relating to any questions of intent, knowledge, capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of the defendant's conduct, disturbance of the defendant's thinking, feeling or behavior, culpability, willpower to choose whether to do or refrain from doing an act, or ability to distinguish right from wrong, based on the discovery of, knowledge or belief about, or the potential or actual disclosure of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, sex, gender, gender identity, or sex assigned at birth. This bill does not preclude a defendant from availing themself of any defense permitted by the Delaware Criminal Code or other applicable Delaware law on bases other than those specifically precluded by this bill. This House Substitute No. 2 differs from the original in that it corrects the omission of the phrase “or sentencing” in § 472(a), (b), and (c).

This Act provides a definition for 911 Dispatchers. While referenced in other sections of the Code, including being identified as a first responder in § 4319 of Title 11 for purposes of confidentiality of communications by first responders for critical incident stress management services, Dispatchers have not otherwise been defined.

This Act provides that any adult day care facility required to be licensed under Chapter 1 of Title 16 is subject to the existing reporting obligations for facilities under Subchapter III of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code.

In 2016, the General Assembly passed HB 404, the Concussion Protection in Youth Athletic Activities Act (CPYAAA). This Act clarifies the requirements of CPYAAA and enables the Division of Public Health, in consultation with the State Council for Persons with Disabilities, to promulgate regulations to broadly implement the Act. This Amendment adds the requirement for non-scholastic athletic activity organizations to develop policies and procedures for advising athletes, coaches, officials, parents, and guardians of the signs and symptoms of concussion and explaining the risk of continuing to practice or compete in athletic events or activities after sustaining a concussion, as well as providing information about returning to academic and athletic events or activities after sustaining a concussion.

According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an estimated 800,000 children are reported missing each year. This Act is a substitute for Senate Bill No. 46. Like Senate Bill No. 46, this Act revises this State's missing children laws to improve search efforts, increase collaboration between law enforcement agencies, and increase public information about missing children. This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 46 in that it does all of the following: (1) Removes language relating to “unemancipated minors” and instead uses the term “child”, as defined in § 302 of Title 1 of the Delaware Code, uniformly throughout Subchapter II of Chapter 85 of Title 11 of the Delaware Code. Delaware does not have emancipation of minors and anyone under the age of 18 is considered a child under our laws. (2) Includes a legal custodian as a person who can sign a dental authorization form to permit release of dental records to law-enforcement agencies. This allows the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families to authorize the release of dental records for any child in its legal custody. (3) Includes a legal custodian as a point of contact for law-enforcement agencies when fulfilling their duties regarding unidentified deceased persons. This allows the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families to be a point of contact and receive information for any child in its legal custody. (4) Removes the limitation on who may report a missing child and instead allows a child to be reported missing by any person. This enables schools, daycares, group homes, relatives, or persons caring for a child without legal authority to report a child missing from their care. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act establishes updated, detailed standards for the practice of hearing aid dispensing. Definitions are added to specify that the standards and requirements pertaining hearing aid dispensing apply to prescription hearing aids only and not to over-the-counter hearing aids. Hearing aid dispenser licensure requirements consist of a high school diploma, six months of on-the-job training, and a national exam. Currently, hearing aid dispensers are expressly prohibited from making medical diagnoses or audiologic evaluations, as set forth in 24 Del. C. § 3702(7). Input from stakeholders demonstrated that HADs were practicing outside the permissible scope of practice. Impermissible activities include cerumen management (wax removal), which is considered invasive, and treating tinnitus (ringing in the ears), which can indicate more complex medical issues. These conditions are appropriately treated by a physician, preferably a hearing specialist. Further, HADs frequently use medical diagnosis codes to ensure payment from insurance carriers, which conflicts with the medical diagnosis prohibition in the current law. A new scope of practice definition delineates permissible and prohibited activities and identifies when referral to a physician is required. This Act also clarifies that a speech/language pathologist applicant must present a certificate of clinical competence issued by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Audiologist applicants are not subject to this requirement. The distinction is that ASHA evaluates the speech/language pathologist’s practicum and clinical fellowship, which are requirements for licensure. In contrast, an audiologist applicant is only required to establish receipt of a doctoral degree and successful completion of a national licensure examination. This Act clarifies that audiologists licensed prior to July 10, 2009 do not need to meet the educational requirement of a doctoral degree as long as they have maintained Delaware licensure. This Act further amends provisions relating to examinations to comport with current practice. This Act revises the reciprocity requirements in the interests of clarity. This Act sets forth requirements for licensure of applicants who were educated outside of the United States. This Act removes the definitions of audiology aide and speech pathology aide on the basis that the Board does not license aides. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Due to continuing concerns over the negative health effects secondhand smoke will have on the youth of Delaware, this bill adds Smoking Restrictions within vehicles if a person under the age of eighteen (18) is in the vehicle. Also, it makes clear that a police officer will not stop or detain a car solely on suspicion of having violated this Statute.