| HB 91 w/ HA 1 + SA 1 | Signed | Bush | This Act creates a new offense of Aggravated Criminal Mischief with enhanced penalties (class D felony) applicable when an individual knowingly damages or tampers with critical utility infrastructure intending to disrupt utility services. In recent years, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI have issued repeated warnings about domestic terrorists and extremist groups targeting critical utility infrastructure. Bulletins issued through DHS’ National Terrorism Advisory System in 2022 warned of a heightened threat environment based, in part, on “continued calls for violence directed at U.S. critical infrastructure.” Physical and computerized attacks on electric utility equipment have reached a 10-year high in 2022. Recent attacks in Washington and North Carolina have caused substantial outages and damage to the power grids in both states. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO OFFENSES INVOLVING PROPERTY. |
| HB 118 w/ HA 1, HA 2 + SA 1 | Signed | Hensley | 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. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE PROHIBITION OF SMOKING IN VEHICLES WHEN A MINOR IS IN THE VEHICLE. |
| HB 105 w/ HA 1 | Signed | K. Williams | 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. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 RELATING TO THE MEDICAL PRACTICES ACT. |
| SB 98 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Poore | This Act allows Dental Clinicians possessing a DDS or DMDS to participate in the Health Care Provider Loan Repayment grant program. The Act also extends the time in which providers may apply for a Health Care Provider Loan Repayment grant from six months to two years following completion of their graduate education. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE HEALTH CARE COMMISSION HEALTH CARE PROVIDER LOAN REPAYMENT PROGRAM. |
| HB 132 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Bush | Section 1 of this Act amends § 6504 of Title 10 to correct two erroneous cross-references (the cross-references will now correctly reference Title 12 rather than Title 10 of the Delaware Code).
Section 2 of this Act corrects § 3301(d) of Title 12 by updating the definition of the term “fiduciary” to be consistent with 2019 updates to § 3322 of Title 12, the effect of which was that when an agent is delegated duties by a fiduciary, such delegation neither causes the agent to cease to be a fiduciary nor causes the agent to be a fiduciary.
Section 3 of this Act amends § 3332(b) of Title 12 to add a cross-reference to, and incorporation of criteria from, § 3340 of Title 12, thereby emphasizing that satisfaction of the criteria of § 3340 of Title 12 means that a trust is administered in Delaware, but also emphasizing that § 3340 of Title 12 is a non-exclusive list of the criteria that may mean that a trust is administered in Delaware.
Section 4 of this Act amends § 3338 of Title 12 to: (1) expressly state that a consent to a nonjudicial settlement agreement under this section must be in writing; (2) permit parties to issue a written nonobjection, rather than a written affirmative consent, to a nonjudicial settlement agreement under this section (much as parties can do under § 3342 of Title 12, which is a similar statute; and as also contemplated under Court of Chancery rules for consent petitions); (3) emphasize that the permitted subjects of a nonjudicial settlement agreement for a trust, including those expressly listed in subsection (e) of this section, remain subject to the material purpose requirement of subsection (c) of this section; (4) make it clearer that the ability of a nonjudicial settlement agreement to resolve the interpretation or construction of the terms of a trust under paragraph (e)(1) of this section applies to any (and not just all) of the terms of a trust; and (5) expressly state (and thus make it clearer) that, in addition to other types of modifications to the terms of a trust that were already expressly listed in subsection (e) of this section, the terms of a trust may be modified by a nonjudicial settlement agreement under this section—though, again, any such modification will continue to be subject to the “material purpose” requirement of subsection (c) of this section, as is already the case, including for those matters currently expressly listed in subsection (e) of this section.
Section 5 of this Act amends § 3339 of Title 12 to make it clearer that: (1) a designated representative may be appointed via the methods specified in § 3339(a)(4) and (5) of Title 12, when those appointed under the methods given precedence under previous paragraphs of subsection (a) are not serving—in other words, when those appointed are unwilling or unable to serve (and not merely when such persons have been “appointed” in the sense of being named or nominated under the methods given precedence under previous paragraphs of subsection (a)); and (2) the limitation of § 3339(a)(4)b. of Title 12 that, in the stated circumstance under paragraph (4), does not allow a trustor to appoint a designated representative that is related or subordinate to the trustor, also applies to the trustor such that in such circumstance, the trustor cannot appoint himself or herself as the designated representative.
Section 6 of this Act amends § 3340 of Title 12 to make it clearer that: (1) a trust’s satisfaction of any of the criteria listed in § 3340(1) through (3) of Title 12 conclusively means that the trust is administered in Delaware (such that satisfaction of such criteria does not lead merely to a rebuttable presumption); and (2) the criteria listed in § 3340(1) through (3) of Title 12 are not the exclusive means by which a trust is, or is considered to be, administered in Delaware.
Section 7 of this Act amends § 3536 of Title 12 to make it clear that a former spouse of a trust beneficiary who has a claim against such beneficiary, such beneficiary’s estate, or such beneficiary’s property is considered a creditor of such beneficiary, thereby affording the beneficiary the protections of § 3536 of Title 12. The amendment is distinguishable from the factual situation addressed by, and is not intended to conflict with, Garretson v. Garretson, 306 A.2d 737, which held that a current spouse of a trust beneficiary who has a claim against such beneficiary is not considered a creditor of such beneficiary.
Section 8 of this Act amends § 3570(4) of Title 12 to make it clearer that the term “disposition” under Delaware’s Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act can include a transfer to another trust (and not merely to a trustee or trustees).
Section 9 of this Act amends § 3573 of Title 12 to provide that the limitations on qualified dispositions applicable to the spouse of a transferor as imposed by § 3572 of Title 12, do not include transfers to trusts for which the spouse: (1) is given (a) written notice of the transfer, (b) a copy of the Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act, (c) a copy of the trust instrument of the receiving trust, (d) a list of the property subject to the transfer, (e) disclosure of all material information relating to the value of such property; (f) disclosure of the estimated value of the property, and (g) the basis for such estimate; and (2) consents in writing to the transfer after receipt of the foregoing.
Section 10 of this Act amends § 3585(c)(3) of Title 12 to update a cross-reference so that the current reference to § 3303(d) of Title 12 will now refer to § 3339 of Title 12, which is the more precise reference in light of recent statutory changes.
Section 11 of this Act amends § 61-604(a)(5) of Title 12 to: (1) include limited liability companies and statutory trusts as entities whose ownership by certain types of charitable trusts will be treated in the same way as partnerships owned by such trusts; and (2) make it clearer that any of those types of entities will receive such treatment even if such entities are disregarded for federal income tax purposes.
Section 12 of this Act amends § 1513 of Title 13 to make it clearer that a spouse’s beneficial interest in a trust created by another person is not included within the term “marital property,” which is defined by this statute, because such an interest falls within the statute’s exclusion of gifts from the term “marital property.” In addition, consistent with § 3315(b) of Title 12, language has been added to § 1513 of Title 13 to confirm that a discretionary interest in a trust is not a property interest under existing Delaware statutory law and, therefore, is not included in the definition of “property acquired” by a spouse (as such term “property acquired” is used in § 1513 of Title 13).
Section 13 of this Act amends § 2704(e)(4) of Title 18 such that the term “trust-owned life insurance policy” now includes a policy owned by an entity that is disregarded for federal income tax purposes and that is wholly owned by a trust (in addition to such a policy that is directly owned by a trust).
Section 14 of this Act provides an effective date. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 10, TITLE 12, TITLE 13, AND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DECEDENTS’ ESTATES AND FIDUCIARY RELATIONS. |
| HB 141 w/ HA 1 + SA 1 | Signed | Morrison | This Act requires all candidates for statewide office, the General Assembly, and all elected county offices, to request a criminal history background check, no later than the filing deadline, from the State Bureau of Identification. The State Bureau of Identification must, within 10 days of receipt of the request, provide the Commissioner of Elections with a report of the candidate’s criminal history or a statement that the Bureau’s Repository contains no information relating to the candidate. The Commissioner of Elections must then determine if the candidate is qualified under Section 21 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution to be considered a candidate and have their name appear on the ballot. The candidate will be considered a provisional candidate until the Commissioner of Elections determines the candidate is qualified. The information obtained by the Commissioner of Elections, from the Bureau, will not fall under the definition of public record in Chapter 100 of Title 29. The candidate must pay the cost of the criminal history background check, but the cost may be reimbursed from the candidate’s campaign funds as an authorized campaign expenditure. This Act will take effect January 1 after enactment. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 11 AND 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR CANDIDATES FOR STATE AND COUNTY PUBLIC OFFICE. |
| HB 148 | Signed | Baumbach | This Act makes updates to Title 15 related to the efficient administration of elections.
Section 1 requires that ballots and sufficient materials essential for the administration for each election shall be provided to each polling location on Election Day.
Section 2 revises, consolidates, and clarifies the sections of the Code that address opening and preparing ballots for tabulation. Updates are made to the language to reflect the use of electronic scanning and tabulation machinery rather than written tally sheets. It also clarifies the process for creating a duplicate ballot that can be read by the machine in the event the original ballot is unreadable. For administrative efficiency, the Act extends the time when ballots may be opened and processed to begin 30 days before the election rather than the Friday before the election.Finally, instead of requiring the teams of election judges to be composed of half Democrats and half Republicans, the requirement would now be that no more than half of the members of the team may be registered with any one party. This allows independents or members of smaller parties to participate as election judges but prevents any one party from dominating a team, as a safeguard against fraud. The requirement that ballots may only be opened and processed in public meetings, with challengers present, and that the ballots at all times are securely stored is maintained. The results of the ballots are not permitted to be extracted or reported before the polls have closed on the day of the election
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ELECTIONS. |
| HB 161 | Signed | Bush | This Act allows the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to assist more small businesses and organizations in making energy efficiency improvements to their facilities by raising the proportion of those projects that can be funded through grants or loans by the Energy Efficiency Investment Fund. Currently, assistance is capped at 30% of the project cost up to $250,000, leaving an applicant to come up with the remaining 70% or more. This can be prohibitive for smaller entities. By raising the eligible proportion of the project cost to 60%, without changing the maximum funding, the Department can help more small businesses, local governments, and nonprofits reduce their operating costs and environmental impact. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY INVESTMENT FUND. |
| HB 169 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act requires the Secretary of Education to publish and deliver to the General Assembly a report detailing requests for certificates of necessity that are not included in the proposed capital budget and the reasons for the rejection and a ranking of the rejected projects by need. The report is also required to include a breakdown of the current and previous 5 years of state spending committed through the certificate of necessity process, as well as a report on which priority level (1, 2, or 3) all approved and rejected applications are given. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION. |
| HS 2 for HB 142 | Signed | Morrison | 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).
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE |
| HS 1 for HB 94 | Signed | Osienski | The expectation for speed enforcement, under Delaware's Motor Vehicle statute, are Delaware's law enforcement agencies. It is not always possible for law enforcement officers to effectively enforce the speed limitations due to a number of factors, including, but not limited to, officer availability and safety. The original Act enabled the State, as well as counties and municipalities to more effectively enforce speed limits on roads in a residential district in which a Department of Transportation study, no more than 1 year old, documents that the 85th percentile speed on the road is 5 miles per hour or more than the posted speed limit or the road is in a designated work zone. For a violation to occur a motor vehicle must exceed the posted speed limit by 11 miles per hour or more. This Act would impose only civil penalties for violations and does not impose points on the owner or operator’s driver’s license. Jurisdiction for adjudicating alleged violations would be in the Justice of the Peace Court and there would only be a right of appeal to the Court of Common Pleas if the penalty exceeds $100. Any excess revenue not used for administration of the system, will be managed by the Office of Highway Safety and used only for purposes of education, enforcement, engineering and administration. This Act will sunset in 5 years if not extended by a subsequent act by the General Assembly.
This Act is a substitute for and differs from House Bill No. 94 in that it eliminates enforcement by Delaware State Police, anywhere other than work zones, and limits approval and implementation of the speed monitoring system to residential districts in New Castle County and municipalities. This Act also requires payment of voluntary assessments to be made to the entity designated on the summons, which may be the Department of Safety and Homeland Security or the county or city where the speed camera was located. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO USE OF ELECTRONIC SPEED ENFORCEMENT DEVICES. |
| HS 1 for HB 193 | Signed | Heffernan | 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. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 14 AND 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CONCUSSION PROTECTION IN YOUTH ATHLETIC ACTIVITES. |
| HB 231 | Signed | Bush | This Act provides clarity on the type of certification and the accepted certifying agencies for increases over the basic salary schedule. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE BASIC SALARY SCHEDULE FOR CERTAIN SCHOOL EMPLOYEES. |
| HS 2 for HB 160 | Signed | Longhurst | The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 established 988 as the universal phone number for "the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system operating through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline." This Act provides the framework to maximize the benefits of 988 and provide crucial support to Delawareans in need through the implementation of a practical, modern, and comprehensive, integrated crisis care system.
This Act is a second substitute for House Bill No. 160. Like House Bill No. 160 this Act does the following:
(1) Created the Behavioral Health Crisis Services Board (“Board”) to provide oversight and input on the development of an integrated behavioral health crisis care system in this State.
(2) Imposes a behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge on business and residential telephone services, wireless telephone services, and prepaid wireless telephone services. The surcharge will create a dedicated funding source for behavioral health crisis services. The Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Services Fund is created to receive the surcharge funds. Specifically, this Act establishes a 60-cent per month per line fee on phone lines and a 60-cent one-time fee on prepaid services.
Like House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 160, this Act does all of the following:
(1) Models the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge after the existing E-911 surcharge and prepaid wireless E911 surcharge created under Chapter 101 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code.
(2) Removes the creation of the Behavioral Health Crisis Communication Center and instead directs the Board to develop and recommend a plan for establishing, operating, and maintaining a behavioral health crisis communications center. The Board must submit the plan to the Governor and General Assembly within 12 months from the effective date of this Act.
(3) Makes changes to the definition of “mobile crisis team”.
(4) Makes changes to the composition of the Board to add the Executive Director of the Ability Network of Delaware and the Executive Director of each of Delaware’s Lifeline Centers.
This Act differs from House Substitute No. 1 to House Bill No. 160 as follows:
(1) Exempts State government from the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge.
(2) Removes a provision that would permit an increase in the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge collected for prepaid wireless telecommunication services if the General Assembly increased the behavioral health crisis intervention services surcharge collected for residential and business telephone service, wireless service, and nontraditional communication service.
(3) Removes the “crisis intervention service” definition.
(4) Removes "Providing crisis intervention services." from the list of eligible expenditures for the Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention Services Fund and replaces it with "Establishing, operating, or contracting for crisis teams for adults and children.".
This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 11 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 or levy a tax or license fee | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO 988 BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CRISIS INTERVENTION SERVICES. |
| HS 1 for HB 194 | Signed | Baumbach | This Act decreases the minimum amount of insurance to be required by taxicab drivers. SB 209, as amended, from the 151st General Assembly increased the required minimum insurance for all public carriers to $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury, and property damages and $1,000,000 for uninsured and underinsured insurance. HB 194 lowers the minimum amount of insurance required by taxicabs issued a medallion to $100,000 for death and bodily injury, $50,000 for property damages, and $300,000 for uninsured and underinsured insurance.
House Substitute 1 for HB 194 clarifies that the lower minimum insurance requirements only apply to taxicab owners or businesses that operate no more than 2 registered vehicles. It also changes the minimum insurance required by small taxicab companies to the following:
1. Liability insurance: $250,000 for bodily injury per person, $500,000 for bodily injury per accident, and $100,000 for property damage;
2. Uninsured and underinsured insurance: $100,000 for bodily injury per person, $300,000 for bodily injury per accident, and $50,000 for property damage; and
3. Personal injury protection: $15,000 per person and $30,000 per incident.
This change is designed to address the dramatic decrease in taxis operating in Delaware, while requiring an appropriate level of liability coverage.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 2 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC CARRIERS. |
| SA 1 to HB 118 | Passed | Sturgeon | House Bill No. 118 prohibits smoking in a vehicle if a person is not the sole occupant of the vehicle and a person in the vehicle is under 18 years of age. This Amendment lowers that age to under 16 years.
This Amendment also rewrites House Amendment No. 1 to HB 118. Like HA 1 to HB 118, this Amendment revises the existing exceptions to the Clean Indoor Air Act under § 2904 of Title 16 so that these exceptions do not apply when a passenger in the vehicle is under the age when the restriction under § 2909 of Title 16 applies. In addition, this Amendment makes technical corrections to § 2904 to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including all of the following:
1. Uses standard language to introduce and explain the applicability of the paragraphs.
2. Corrects punctuation at the end of each paragraph and adds Oxford commas to lists within paragraphs.
3. Revises the exceptions under § 2904(1) into a list for clarity.
4. Corrects the spelling of the word “fundraising”. | |
| SB 160 | Signed | Walsh | This Bill is the Fiscal Year 2024 Bond and Capital Improvements Act. | A BOND AND CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ACT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE AND CERTAIN OF ITS AUTHORITIES FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 2024; AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS OF THE STATE; APPROPRIATING FUNDS FROM THE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND; AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF REVENUE BONDS OF THE DELAWARE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY; APPROPRIATING SPECIAL FUNDS OF THE DELAWARE TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY; APPROPRIATING GENERAL FUNDS OF THE STATE; REPROGRAMMING CERTAIN FUNDS OF THE STATE; SPECIFYING CERTAIN PROCEDURES, CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS FOR THE EXPENDITURE OF SUCH FUNDS; AND AMENDING CERTAIN STATUTORY PROVISIONS. |
| SA 1 to HB 91 | Passed | Hansen | This amendment excludes from the definition of “critical utility infrastructure” an electric power drop line that services a single family residence and telecommunication or internet infrastructure drop lines and wires that service a single family residence. | |
| SA 1 to HB 141 | Passed | Gay | This Amendment adds that the earliest an unaffiliated candidate, candidate nominated by a party, write-in candidate, and candidate for special elections to the General Assembly may request a criminal background check is 90 days before the candidate filing deadline. The Amendment also adds that the earliest a candidate in a primary election may request a criminal background check is the first date an individual may file as a candidate. | |
