| HB 62 | Signed | Wilson-Anton | This Act requires that each county reassess the value of real property in the county at least once every 5 years. The first 5-year period starts when the reassessment currently being conducted by each county is completed.
This Act also makes revisions to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and for consistency with current law and terminology as follows:
1. Because boards of assessment are not responsible for assessing property in any of the counties under current law, this Act repeals the penalty under § 8306 of Title 9 against a board of assessment that knowingly and wilfully assesses property at an incorrect value and corrects references to a county Department of Finance instead of the board of assessment in § 8307 of Title 9.
2. Requires that real property be assessed at its “present fair market value” instead of at its “true value in money.” Delaware courts have established that the “true value in money” for real property means its “present fair market value”, which is the terminology that is currently used. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE ASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY. |
| SB 52 | Signed | Pinkney | This Act directs the State’s current needle exchange program to take a needs-based approach.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE STERILE NEEDLE AND SYRINGE EXCHANGE PROGRAM. |
| HB 80 | Signed | Minor-Brown | This Act requires that doula services be covered by Medicaid in Delaware by January 1, 2024. It follows up on HB 343 from the 151st General Assembly which required the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance to submit a plan for implementing this coverage, and draws on that completed report. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COVERAGE OF DOULA SERVICES. |
| 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. |
| HB 130 | Signed | Longhurst | There are thousands of casual/seasonal employees, who work for the State of Delaware. These hard-working individuals make up a critical part of the state government workforce and play a significant role in keeping our state running and delivering services to the people of Delaware. Since these individuals are not eligible for the state pension plan, many of them are eager to participate in a retirement savings plan so that they can save, invest, and build wealth for a secure and comfortable retirement. Currently, these individuals are not permitted to participate in the state’s 457(b) plan. This bill allows casual/seasonal employees the opportunity to participate in the 457(b) plan. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEFERRED COMPENSATION FOR PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE STATE. |
| HB 129 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Gray | This Act modifies Section 2803 to add definitions for negligence, misconduct and incompetence. These new definitions will provide greater clarity and guidance for the Council of the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers in determining whether a licensee is subject to discipline. Section 2817(a)(7) has been amended by striking the requirement that an applicant who fails the Principles and Practice of Engineering examination four times must go through additional steps before taking the examination another time. Eliminating this requirement will remove unnecessary barriers to licensure. Further, Section 2823 has been amended to add “negligence” and “pattern of negligence” as grounds for discipline. These changes will ensure that discipline is imposed for conduct that poses a risk to the public. This Act adds a definition for “successor professional engineer” and a new Section 2832 to delineate the acceptable parameters for a successor engineer’s reuse or adoption of work performed by another engineer. These revisions will both inform licensees of the permissible use of another engineer’s work and ensure that the recipient of services can identify the responsible engineer. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS. |
| SB 117 w/ SA 1 | Signed | Pettyjohn | This Act authorizes paramedics and other EMS providers to provide medical care to police dogs injured at the scene of an emergency. This Act also grants civil immunity to paramedics and other EMS providers who provide medical services to police dogs, so long as their efforts to assist the police dog were in good faith. However, this Act clarifies that in a situation where a human and a police dog need emergency medical care at the same time, the medical services personnel are prohibited from providing care to the police dog over the human, if the care of the police dog would hinder the human’s care. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE MEDICAL CARE OF POLICE DOGS INJURED IN THE LINE OF DUTY. |
| HB 163 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act authorizes the Department of Education to issue an initial or continuing license to a Junior Reserve Officer Training Core (JROTC) Instructor who has been certified by the United States Department of Defense (USDOD). This Act also removes outdated language.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EDUCATOR LICENSURE AND CERTIFICATION. |
| 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. |
| SB 148 | Signed | Sturgeon | This Act allows a practitioner with the authority to prescribe medication to give the unused portion of topical medication used during treatment to a patient upon discharge or the conclusion of the visit. This Act is based on the Model Act created by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, which has been adopted in Illinois.
During a procedure, practitioners may use only a few drops or small amount of medication from a container. Because regulations governing the ability to dispense the remaining portion of stock-item medications can be unclear or appear overly burdensome, many facilities do not allow the practitioner to dispense that container to the patient to take home with them. Instead, the practitioner must write a prescription for the patient and the medication that remains in the container is discarded.
By allowing patients to take home provider-dispensed medication, this Act reduces waste and health-care costs and by eliminating the extra burden of going to the pharmacy to fill a prescription, this Act will better ensure medication compliance.
This Act is known as "The Topical Medical Waste Reduction Act".
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE TOPICAL MEDICAL WASTE REDUCTION ACT. |
| SB 156 | Signed | Lockman | Under the current salary scale for teachers, if a permitted paraprofessional in a school wishes to become a certified teacher in the same school, they may have to take a pay cut to do so. This Act provides teachers who previously worked as paraprofessionals in the schools to receive partial credit towards their experience on the teacher salary scale for their time working within the schools as paraprofessionals. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO EDUCATION. |
| HB 176 | Signed | Osienski | This bill would extend various deadlines in the Unemployment Code. The intent is to provide claimants and employers additional time to receive and prepare a response or appeal of benefit determinations and other important documents that require a response, in an effort to reduce the incidents of late filed appeals and missed deadlines. This would benefit claimants and employers by providing more time, while also reducing the administrative burden to the Division of Unemployment Insurance of responding to late appeals and late filed documents. This bill also makes conforming changes to additional sections of the Unemployment Code that provide for delivery by mail or other delivery methods to provide flexibility to the Division and Board if they decide to send notices and other documents by email or other delivery methods to reduce mailing expenses and increase efficiency. Finally, this bill confirms Superior Court precedent that Code references to “days” mean “calendar days” unless otherwise specified. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 19 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION DEADLINES. |
| SB 158 | Signed | Gay | This Act permits an individual who is a reproductive health care services provider or employee to apply for participation in Delaware's Address Confidentiality Program, which allows participants to keep their actual address confidential by applying to the Department of Justice for a substitute address to which all mail will be delivered.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ADDRESS CONFIDENTIALITY. |
| HB 206 w/ HA 3 | Signed | K. Johnson | This Act revamps the Council on Police Training, by changing the name of the Council to the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission (or POST) and amending its powers and duties to: (1) more accurately reflect the dual role of establishing training standards for Delaware police officers as well as overseeing allegations of police officer misconduct and conducting hearings for possible suspensions or de-certifications; (2) untethering the Council from the Delaware State Police by deleting the requirement that the Director of the Delaware State Police Academy is responsible for education and training in connection with the Council’s duties and responsibilities; (3) removing the requirement that discipline proceedings be tied to whether the employing department takes action against the officer and increasing the instances when discipline can be issued; (4) advising the Delaware Police Accreditation Commission regarding statewide accreditation standards; (5) issuing guidelines for local police oversight commissions or boards. The Bill improves transparency by increasing required meetings from two to four per year, clarifying that decisions of disciplinary panels are public documents, requiring that departments form public accountability commissions with non-officer members, and requiring a public comment period and an official website with publication of pertinent records and documents of the POST. By amending the definition of “police officer,” the bill also requires that officers employed only part-time are subject to the regulatory oversight of the POST. The Bill proposes that the Council’s day-to-day functions be provided through professionals retained by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security.
Finally, the Bill makes minor technical and other non-substantive changes, including deleting outdated provisions of the Code. This includes striking the provision that required body-worn camera standards to be in place by 2022 – since those regulations are now in place – and instead requiring the POST to “periodically review and propose updates as needed to regulations and standards” for body-worn cameras in cooperation with other stakeholders.
Sections 2 through 16 make conforming changes to other parts of the Code that referenced the Council on Police Training. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 10, 11, 24, 29, AND 4 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO POLICE OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING COMMISSION. |
| HB 218 | Signed | Chukwuocha | This Act changes the composition of the Commission and further clarifies the definition of “veterans” as it pertains to this Section of Title 29. The Delaware Commission of Veterans’ Affairs is comprised of members, appointed by the Governor, who represent specific veteran organizations. The United States Congress defines the Korean War Era as June 27, 1950 to January 31, 1955, and today most living Korean War Veterans are in their upper 80s or lower 90s. This amendment will redesignate the seat to an organization that is self-perpetuating and whose membership will continue on, and also serve to provide the diverse representation of all veterans. Also preserved is the ability of the current Korean War Commissioner to remain as a Commissioner until his term expires or that seat otherwise becomes vacant. The sole remaining active Chapter of the Korean War Veterans of America in Delaware is in the process of being disbanded due to lack of membership.
The Office of Veterans Services is staffed by individuals employed by the State, but who have been required, by reference to the definition of “veteran,” to have “served honorably.” Staffing of the OVS, including the veterans’ cemeteries, has been challenging. This amendment clarifies that a veteran, for qualification as a commissioner, must have been discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. This clarification is consistent with federal laws and regulations regarding the definition of “veteran.” | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE COMMISSION OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS. |
| SB 176 | Signed | Lawson | This Act requires that an owner be reimbursed up to $1,500 annually for veterinary care expenses paid by the owner for the care of a retired law-enforcement canine.
The Department of Safety and Homeland Security shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines from the State Police and Capitol Police. The State Fire Prevention Commission shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines from the Office of the State Fire Marshal. The Department of Correction and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control shall issue veterinary care reimbursements and promulgate regulations to create a reimbursement process for retired law-enforcement canines that assisted their respective divisions.
This Act is effective immediately and shall be implemented 6 months after enactment. This Act does not apply to law-enforcement canines that retire before the implementation date of this Act. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO RETIRED LAW-ENFORCEMENT CANINES. |
| SB 177 | Signed | Lockman | This Act deletes the requirement in Title 31 of the Delaware Code, Section 4304, that no more than 5 commissioners or interim commissioners of the Wilmington Housing Authority be of the same political party. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE WILMINGTON HOUSING AUTHORITY. |
| HS 1 for HB 205 | Signed | Minor-Brown | This Act makes a number of revisions to the Law-Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights in Title 11 of the Delaware Code. It adds part-time officers to the coverage of the chapter. It distinguishes between formal investigations and informal inquiries, but requires that even informal inquiries must comport with federal and State law, including NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251 (1975) and Garrity v. New Jersey, 385 U.S. 493 (1967).
This Act requires that a detailed narrative of an internal investigation must be prepared by an investigating agency and publicly posted in any case involving use of force that results in serious physical injury; the discharge of a firearm; a sustained finding of sexual assault or sexual harassment; a sustained finding of dishonesty; or a sustained finding of domestic violence. Further, it requires that an investigation into officer misconduct must be completed, regardless of the employment status of the officer. I.e., even if an officer resigns or retires while an investigation is pending, the department must complete the investigation and report sustained findings of misconduct to the Council on Police Training. The Act also requires a department to provide information to a complainant or victim of officer misconduct sufficient to reasonably address concerns regarding the investigation and its outcome, including the investigative findings, conclusions, and any recommendations for further action.
Finally, the Act requires, upon request of a defendant in a criminal or delinquency case, and through the Department of Justice, all existing records relating to sustained findings of misconduct relating to perjury, intentional false statements or false reports, or destruction, falsification, or concealment of evidence by an officer who participated in the investigation or prosecution. It also provides that law-enforcement officers must be required, upon hire, to sign an agreement allowing the hiring agency to provide copies of that officer’s personnel file and disciplinary and investigative records with any other law-enforcement agency that makes an offer or conditional offer of hire to that officer in the future.
The CJC will aggregate and post all of the narratives required to be prepared under this chapter on its website, along with an annual report of the following: (1) The number of public complaints and internal complaints relating to police misconduct that the department received each year, broken down by subject matter of the complaint; (2) The number of formal investigations undertaken by the department each year, and the number of complaints resolved without a formal investigation; (3) The number of formal investigations that resulted in a sustained finding of misconduct, an unsubstantiated finding, or any other disposition. Records relating to any incident for which a detailed narrative is required to be prepared and posted must be preserved for at least 25 years.
This Substitute differs from the original House Bill No. 205 as follows:
1. It adds sustained findings that a law-enforcement officer engaged in sexual harassment to the required public disclosures.
2. It broadens the requirement for public disclosures relating to sustained findings of dishonesty.
3. It limits the requirement for public disclosures relating to the discharge of a firearm to those instances where the firearm is discharged at a person.
4. It clarifies that the required disclosures apply to chiefs of police and other high ranking officials.
5. It moves all of the disclosures into a single section (§ 9210).
6. It requires, instead of permitting, that the victim or complainant with respect to misconduct must be told of the conclusion of the inquiry.
7. It clarifies that the public detailed narratives required for certain incidents is a prospective requirement, while disclosures in a criminal or delinquency matter pertain to all relevant existing records.
8. It requires additional disclosures to the defendant of investigations into dishonesty-related misconduct that occurred in the course of the investigation of the pending matter; requires law-enforcement agencies to disclose to the Department of Justice such records; and provides if the investigation finds the allegation unsubstantiated it may not be used in any criminal or delinquency proceeding.
9. Reinforces the duty of the State to preserve and disclose records underlying misconduct dealt with in this chapter.
10. Reverts references to the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission to Council on Police Training.
11. Sets a timeline for the preparation and posting of required public disclosures.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER BILL OF RIGHTS. |
