| HB 124 w/ HA 1 + SA 1, SA 2 | Signed | Morrison | This Act eliminates animal noise and noise disturbances from the Noise Control and Abatement Chapter in Title 7. This Act clarifies the authority of the Office of Animal Welfare and Department of Agriculture to enforce all state laws relating to the protection and control of animals with, as occasion requires, the assistance of police officers. This Act also adds restrictions concerning barking dogs with other provisions concerning dogs currently being enforced by the Office of Animal Welfare. This Act does not prohibit municipalities from enforcing their own dog laws or ordinances if they have their own enforcement agency. This Act clarifies that police officers shall assist the Office of Animal Welfare, as occasion requires, with the enforcement of all State and local dog control laws.
This Act prohibits the owner or person in possession or control of a dog from allowing the dog to bark for an extended period, defined as continuously for 15 minutes or more, or intermittently for 30 minutes or more. The Act exempts barking dogs if:(1) a person is trespassing on private property;(2) an animal is intruding on private property; (3) the dog is being teased or provoked. The Act exempts dogs located in:(1)animal shelters; (2) pet stores; (3) dog grooming facilities; (4) veterinarian offices; (5) animal clinics. The Act also exempts dogs engaged in:(1) dog training;(2) dog exhibition; (3) lawful performance competitions; (4) hunting; (5) herding. Civil penalties are a written warning for the first violation, $50 for a second violation, if it occurs more than 7 days after the first violation, $100 for a third violation and $150 for all subsequent violations. This Act is effective 1 year after enactment. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 7 AND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO NOISE CONTROL AND ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS FOR PROTECTION AND CONTROL OF ANIMALS AND BARKING DOGS. |
| HB 254 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Gray | This Act amends the Charter of The Town of Millville. Specifically, the Act more clearly identifies the documents needed to file for a Town Council member position, as well as the logistics of the candidate providing the results of the criminal background check to the Town. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF MILLVILLE RELATING TO THE METHOD OF MAKING NOMINATIONS FOR A TOWN COUNCIL MEMBER. |
| HS 1 for HB 253 w/ HA 1 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act is a substitute for House Bill 253. Like HB 253, it requires health insurance companies, including State employee/retiree health plans and Medicaid, to cover annual mammograms for the purpose of early detection for a woman 40 years of age or older, with or without referral from the woman’s health care provider. It also prohibits mammography facilities from requiring that women, 40 years of age or older, provide the facility with the name of a healthcare provider in order to receive an annual screening mammogram.
This substitute differs from HB 253 by updating Title 18, Section 3552 of the Delaware for consistency with the rest of the bill. Specifically, it requires insurance carriers to provide coverage for annual mammograms for cancer screening beginning at age 40 rather than age 50 and prohibits carriers from requiring a referral for these annual mammograms. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 16, 18, 29, AND 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MAMMOGRAMS. |
| HB 277 w/ HA 1 | Signed | K. Williams | This Act designates the Court of Common Pleas as the court with original jurisdiction of offenses under section 4172 of Title 21. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SPEED EXHIBITIONS. |
| HB 16 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Longhurst | This Act requires that Medicaid and State employee health plans cover: (1) ovarian cancer monitoring tests for women treated for ovarian cancer; and (2) annual screening tests for women at risk for ovarian cancer. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 29 AND 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO OVARIAN CANCER. |
| HS 1 for HB 286 w/ HA 1 + SA 1 | Signed | Spiegelman | Like House Bill No. 286, House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 286 prohibits discrimination in life insurance based on genetic characteristics, genetic information, or the result of any genetic test.
House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 286 differs from House Bill No. 286 as follows:
1. Provides a definition of “direct-to-consumer genetic testing”.
2. Allows the use of any genetic information that is in an individual's medical record or application for life insurance.
3. Allows a person engaged in the business of life insurance to request that an individual share genetic information from a direct-to-consumer genetic testing or to request that an individual provide written consent for entity to provide that information.
4. Allows an entity that provides direct-to-consumer genetic testing to share information with a person engaged in the business of life insurance but only with the written consent of the individual.
5. Clarifies that a person engaged in the business of life insurance may not do any of the following:
a. Require that an individual take a genetic test.
b. Require that an individual provide genetic information received from an entity providing direct-to-consumer genetic testing or provide written consent for the entity to provide that information.
c. Take into consideration the refusal by an individual to take a genetic test, provide genetic information received from direct-to-consumer genetic testing, or provide written consent to share information from direct-to-consumer genetic testing.
Like HB 286, HS 1 for HB 286 also does all of the following:
1. Makes corresponding corrections to § 2317 of Title 18 by revising the heading for clarity and the definition of "insurance" to conform with the terms and definitions used in Title 18.
2. Is known as "The Ericka Byler Act”. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO GENETICS BASED DISCRIMINATION. |
| HB 353 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Griffith | This Act provides civil and criminal remedies for the wrongful disclosure of deep fakes that depict individuals in the nude or engaging in sexual conduct. It provides the same remedies as those available under: (1) the Delaware Uniform Civil Remedies for Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Images Act, Chapter 78 of Title 10; and (2) a Violation of Privacy offense under §1335 of Title 11. It further provides that when an adult creates a visual depiction of a minor that is nude or engaging in sexual conduct, the adult would be subject to a felony prosecution, rather than a misdemeanor prosecution. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 10 AND 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEEP FAKES. |
| HB 190 w/ HA 1 | Signed | K. Williams | This bill updates the current law relating to the Spay Neuter Fund and the administration of that fund to make it easier to administer the fund and animal population control programs.
Changes have also been made to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 16 AND 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ANIMAL POPULATION CONTROL PROGRAMS. |
| HS 1 for HB 316 w/ HA 1, HA 2 + SA 1 | Signed | Romer | This Act creates a new elections crime: “use of deep fake technology to influence an election.” Under this statute it would be a crime to distribute within 90 days of an election a “deep fake” – that is an audio or visual depiction that has been manipulated or created with generative adversarial network techniques, with the intent of harming a party or candidate or otherwise deceiving voters. It is not a crime, nor is there a penalty, if the altered media contains a disclaimer stating “This audio/video/image has been altered or artificially generated.” There is also provision for civil injunctive relief for a candidate depicted in a deep fake. There are various exceptions to protect speech, expression, and media rights. A violation of this statute is a class B misdemeanor unless the deepfake is intended to cause violence or bodily harm, in which case it is a class A misdemeanor, or if it is a repeat offense within 5 years, in which case it is a class E felony. Pursuant to § 5101 of Title 15, all offenses under this section are heard in Superior Court.
This Substitute bill differs from original House Bill No. 316 in that it adds the caveat “if no visual disclosure is feasible” in relation to disclosures for audio-only media. It adds mobile applications, Internet websites, and streaming platforms to the exceptions under (d)(1) and (d)(2). It explicitly adds a carveout related to the liability shield of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. It states that the Act is not intended to restrict the ability of a person to detect, prevent, respond to, or protect against security incidents, identity theft, fraud, harassment, malicious or deceptive activities or any illegal activity, preserve the integrity or security of systems or investigate, report, or prosecute those responsible for any such action. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 15 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DEEP FAKES IN ELECTIONS. |
| HB 355 | Signed | Osienski | This Act provides legal protections for financial institutions and other entities that provide financial or accounting services to cannabis-related businesses that are licensed or registered under Delaware law. Specifically, it clarifies that banks, credit unions, armored car services, and providers of accounting services are not subject to prosecution under Delaware law merely by providing lawful services to licensed businesses engaged in the production, distribution and sale of cannabis in Delaware. This Act aims to facilitate the operation of cannabis-related businesses by helping to ensure that such businesses have access to necessary financial and accounting services. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MARIJUANA. |
| HB 358 w/ HA 1 | Signed | Osienski | This Act serves to clean up certain sections of the Board’s Practice Act. Required statutory language omitted due to oversight have been added, such as standards for reciprocity, issuance and renewal of licenses, and hearing procedures. The requirements for a public Board member have been clarified. Finally, inapplicable terms, such as “master” elevator mechanic, have been removed.
This Act requires passage by a 3/5 majority because it authorizes the Board to set fees for licensure and licensure renewals.
This Act makes technical changes to comply with the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE BOARD OF ELEVATOR MECHANICS. |
| HB 369 | Signed | Gray | This Act amends Chapter 28 of Title 24 of the Delaware Code to define "successor professional engineer" as a professional engineer who assumes responsible charge of a project, or component of a project, and uses or relies upon the work of the professional engineer who was previously in responsible charge and sealed pertinent documents. The new Section 2832 delineates the acceptable parameters for a successor professional engineer's use or reliance upon work performed by the previous professional engineer in responsible charge. These revisions will both inform licensees of the permissible use of another professional engineer's work and ensure that the recipient of services can identify the responsible professional engineer. The Council for the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers solicited feedback from and held committee meetings with various stakeholders who contributed to drafting of this Act. The Council approved this Act. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS. |
| HB 363 | Signed | Morrison | This Act requires a landlord who provides a dwelling place to a person as part of their employment compensation to provide them with a disclosure form advising them of the conditions and requirements for occupancy and vacancy of the premises once they are no longer employed for the landlord. The disclosure must inform the tenant employee that the landlord must offer the tenant, within 5 business days of termination by the employer, the opportunity to enter into a written rental agreement, if no rental agreement is in effect already. No offer for a rental agreement is necessary if the tenant employee is terminated for cause. The landlord may condition the rental agreement on the person financially qualifying as a tenant and meeting the landlord’s income, credit, or other financial requirements for renting the unit. This Act also lengthens the time period the landlord must wait before bringing a summary possession action against a formerly employed tenant from 15 days to 30 days unless the termination is for cause. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO RIGHTS OF TENANT EMPLOYEES. |
| HB 398 | Signed | D. Short | This Act amends the City of Seaford Charter to remove the section regarding Fire Department Appropriations, specifically, the City Council's authority to set aside or appropriate up to ten percent of real estate taxes to provide for and maintain the equipment of the Seaford Volunteer Fire Department. It also removes the obligation of the President of the Fire Department to submit an annual report to the City Council. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF SEAFORD RELATING TO FIRE DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATIONS. |
| HB 410 | Signed | Longhurst | Section 1 of this Act establishes the Legislative Hall Art and History Advisory Commission ("Commission"). The Commission is established to advise and make recommendations to Legislative Council regarding art, monuments, and historical exhibits to be displayed in Legislative Hall or on the grounds of Legislative Hall.
Section 2 of this Act ensures that the Commission’s meetings are open to the public. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ESTABLISHING THE LEGISLATIVE HALL ART AND HISTORY ADVISORY COMMISSION. |
| HB 414 | Signed | Collins | This Bill amends the Charter of the Town of Frankford. In Section 15 of the Charter, it allows the town of Frankford to levy a Real Estate Transfer Tax up to one and a half percent of the sale price, as opposed to the current provision, which allows for one percent of the sale price. | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF FRANKFORD RELATING TO TAXATION. |
| HB 419 | Signed | Heffernan | This Act requires the Department of Services for Children, Youth, and Their Families (DSCYF) to provide new luggage to children in foster care to use for the transportation of their personal belongings when entering custody, moving from one placement to another, or exiting custody, and makes clear that disposable bags and trash bags may not be used for these purposes. It requires the Department to establish and maintain an inventory of new luggage for this purpose. The Department must annually provide a report containing a current accounting of supply inventory and inventory management procedures.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO NEW LUGGAGE FOR CHILDREN IN THE CUSTODY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SERVICES FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH, AND THEIR FAMILIES. |
| HB 428 | Signed | Minor-Brown | This Act corrects, clarifies, and amends Title 29, Chapter 69 which articulates state procurement guidelines and procedures. The changes to the chapter realign some responsibilities from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to the Director of the Section of Government Support Services (Section) within the Office of Management and Budget. Additional chapter amendments include the addition of processes to Subchapter VI, Professional Services, and authorizes the Section to lead some mandatory use Professional Services contracting efforts. The Professional Services changes made are similar to the processes and procedures as identified in other subchapters of Chapter 69. The changes will not impact the vendor community. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO STATE PROCUREMENT. |
