A bill to amend the Medical Marijuana Act passed the Senate March 28 by a 16-5 vote to remove the stipulation that a patient must have a debilitating medical condition to qualify for a registry identification card. 

The House had passed the bill Jan. 25 by a 26-10 vote with one not voting and four absent. The bill now awaits Gov. John Carney’s signature. Once signed, the measure would allow healthcare providers to make the determination of whether a patient has a diagnosed medical condition for which they would receive therapeutic or palliative benefit from the use of medical marijuana. 

Also awaiting Carney’s signature is SB 220, which passed the House March 28 with 39 votes and two absent. The bill unanimously passed the Senate March 13 to cover third-party insurance payments for people who also qualify for Medicaid, including barring third parties from refusing payment for an item or service if it is approved under Medicaid. 

Senate passed

• SR 19  passed the Senate March 26 recognizing March 25 as Greek Independence Day

• SR 20 passed the Senate March 26 to extend thoughts and prayers from the people of Delaware to its sister state of Maryland, to the victims’ families, and to the first responders who are assisting with the search and recovery efforts.

• SS1 for SB 164 with SA1 passed the Senate March 28 to allow correctional officers employed with the Department of Correction to make a written request that their personal information not be published and remain confidential.

• SB 194 with SA1 unanimously passed the Senate March 28 to allow pharmacists, under protocol approved by the Division of Public Health, to provide HIV pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis treatments.

• SB 198 passed the Senate March 28 by a 17-1 vote with two not voting and one absent to revise existing animal cruelty laws to include people who knowingly possess, own, buy, sell, transfer or manufacture animal fighting paraphernalia with the intent to engage in or otherwise promote or facilitate such fighting as guilty of a class E felony. This act defines “animal fighting paraphernalia” and creates a list of considerations a court may use when assessing whether an item or object qualifies as animal fighting paraphernalia.

Left on the table

• SB 239, introduced March 13, would remove the 5-year term limit imposed upon hearing officers appointed by the secretary of labor. It also removes the political party affiliation rule when considering new candidates that held that the number of officers from one major political party shall not exceed a majority of one. The act removes references to reappointments and clarifies that the removal of a hearing officer is made consistent with the State Merit Rules.

Bills in committee

House Appropriations Committee

• HB 347 would give nonexempt Delaware Department of Transportation employees who work over 37.5 hours the right to be paid at time and a half.

• HB 350 would create the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board to review and approve annual hospital budgets beginning in 2026. Hospital budgets established under this process are required to adhere as closely to the spending benchmark as is reasonable given the hospital’s financial position and associated economic factors, promote efficient and economic operations of the hospital, and maintain the hospital’s ability to meet its financial obligations. As a temporary measure until the board begins operations, hospitals are required to charge no more than 250% of Medicare costs to any payer for hospital services in calendar year 2025.

House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee

• HB 359 expands the protections offered to consumers under the Delaware Personal Data Privacy Act by applying that act to state government.

House Education Committee

• HB 354 would give dependent children of active military members, full-time Delaware National Guard members, and active-duty members of a reserve component of the U.S. military priority in choice and charter enrollment.

• HB 361 would require a public school to provide a breakfast meal and a lunch meal free of charge to a student who is eligible for a reduced-price meal, and require the Department of Education to reimburse public schools for the free meals by paying the difference between the cost of the free meal and the reduced-price meal.

House Health & Human Development Committee

• SB 223 unanimously passed the Senate March 26 to regulate mobile-integrated healthcare and community paramedicine by authorizing the Division of Public Health to handle applications and set standards. 

House Judiciary Committee

• HB 356 would allow the governor to accept back, on behalf of the state, at the request of the United States, concurrent jurisdiction over crimes involving juveniles on military installations located in the state, over which the federal government previously had exclusive jurisdiction, only if the violation of federal law is also a crime under state law. After the governor, by executive order, accepts the request, the order must be filed with the Delaware secretary of state and recorded by the Recorder of Deeds Office in the county where the military installation is located. The act allows any state or local government agency to enter into a memorandum of understanding with any federal agency for coordination and designation of responsibility related to the concurrent criminal juvenile legislative jurisdiction. It also grants the Family Court jurisdiction to adjudicate delinquency hearings involving juveniles under 18 who have been charged with violating Delaware Code within the boundaries of a military installation if concurrent juvenile legislative jurisdiction is established.

• SB 238 unanimously passed the Senate March 27 to add "victim of kidnapping" to the definition section of the Address Confidentiality Act, allowing for kidnapping victims to become eligible for the protections offered by the Address Confidentiality Program. 

House Revenue & Finance Committee

• SB 234 unanimously passed the Senate March 26 to extend the time frame for a customer to apply for a document fee credit refund from 15 days to 30 days. This change will improve customer service by allowing a customer more time to submit the applicable paperwork.

• HB 331 would create a scholarship for students who have completed a Delaware Teacher Academy and are enrolled in a Delaware Educator Preparation Program. This scholarship supplements the Educator Support Scholarship and is intended to fill a $2,500 funding gap for aspiring educators who are in their first year of an Educator Preparation Program.

House Sunset Committee

• HB 358 would address the Board of Elevator Mechanics law and remove the master distinction. This bill requires passage by a three-fifths majority because it authorizes fees for licensure and licensure renewals. 

• HB 366 would sunset the Technology Investment Council because of redundancies with other state boards and difficulties in gathering a quorum. TIC convened only once in 2023, and its goals are achieved through collaboration among other agencies.

• HB 367 would sunset the Provider Advisory Board under the Office of Child Care Licensing.

• HB 368 would add a third center-based early care and education provider to the Delaware Early Childhood Council.

Senate Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology

• SB 249 would amend law relating to captive insurance to provide the commissioner with additional flexibility to approve those types of financial institutions that would be authorized to hold required capital and surplus of captive insurance companies. 

• SB 257 would change Delaware’s law related to liability insurance for rental vehicles. The minimum level of coverage required for a vehicle owner’s policy of liability insurance is also required for a vehicle owner’s rental of a vehicle.

Senate Corrections and Public Safety Committee

• HB 277 with HA1 passed the House March 28 with 38 votes and three absent to clarify the intent of HB 277 to provide the Court of Common Pleas with sole original jurisdiction, to the exclusion of the Justice of the Peace Court, for drag racing and other vehicle speed racing, and clarify that a violation of this section is within the jurisdiction of the Superior Court when it is joined with another offense that is within the jurisdiction of the Superior Court. 

Senate Education Committee

• HB 23 passed the House March 21 by 31 votes with 10 absent to allow more flexibility for higher education assistance for students in foster care by allowing money to be used for direct and indirect educational expenses. It also removes the one-year residency requirement for applicants. 

Senate Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee

• HS1 for HB 19 passed the House March 26 by a 34-1 vote with six absent to create a background special license plate for the United Way of Delaware Pride Council.

• SB 258 would prohibit any autonomous vehicle with a gross weight of 10,001 pounds or more from being operated on a Delaware highway for testing purposes, transporting goods, or transporting passengers without a human safety operator being physically present within the autonomous vehicle. A two-thirds vote is required for this bill.

• HB 314 passed the House March 28 with 39 votes and two absent to change the wording “Secretary of Health and Social Services” to “Secretary of Transportation” for determining the status of driver’s license for individuals with a potential medical condition, which allows for quicker response and ensures driver confidentiality. 

• HB 328 passed the House March 21 with 32 votes and nine absent to extend a sunset clause to 2030 for motorcyclists to use pulsating headlights as a way to alert other drivers of their presence, without allowing the use of flashing lights that would otherwise be used on emergency vehicles. 

Senate Finance Committee

• SB 13 would create the Hospital Quality Assessment, which places a 3.58% assessment on Delaware hospitals’ net patient revenues. With the exception of 10% that may be used to support existing Medicaid obligations, 53.5% of net funds generated by the Hospital Quality Assessment must be used to increase the inpatient and outpatient payments to hospitals, and 46.5% must be deposited into the Hospital Quality and Health Equity Fund, to be used to develop or enhance funding for Medicaid initiatives, unlocking federal matching dollars.

• SB 215 with SA1 and SA2 would require the Department of Health and Social Services to inspect long-term care facilities on an annual basis.

• SB 227 would create dedicated information technology units for Delaware public schools, instead of using a unit for a teacher. 

• SB 240, introduced March 13, would require the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance to produce a report by March 31, 2025, that documents home care services as measured using the most common billing codes for the home care industry. 

• SB 245 removes the expiration dates for the Office of Foreclosure Prevention and Financial Education along with the Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program to assist homeowners at risk of foreclosure or already navigating the foreclosure process.

Senate Health & Social Services

• HB 313 passed the House March 28 with 39 votes and two absent to ensure that all female inmates in Delaware Department of Correction custody, at level IV or V, receive annual or biennial screening mammograms as recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

• SB 251 revamps and renames the Delaware Institute of Veterinary Medical Education to the Delaware Veterinary Medicine Education Advisory Council, and provides that the council work with both the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture to establish a robust program that assists Delaware students interested in practicing veterinary medicine, encourages the students to return to Delaware to practice, and develops programs of education and training in veterinary medicine-related fields and research.

• HB 275 passed the House 21-15 with five absent March 28 to update the definition of sexual orientation throughout Delaware Code by adding asexuality and pansexuality. According to the bill, asexuality refers to individuals with little to no sexual attraction to other individuals, although asexual individuals may desire emotionally intimate relationships with other individuals. Pansexuality refers to individuals who are attracted sexually or romantically, or both, to another individual regardless of that individual's sex or gender identity.

• HB 345 passed the House March 26 with 37 votes and four absent to require Medicaid coverage for additional postpartum visits with a doula upon recommendation of a licensed practitioner or clinician.

• HB 348, sponsored by Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth, passed the House March 26 with 36 votes, four absent and one not voting to remove the requirement for a lifeguard at a pool exclusively serving a residential or apartment community not accessible to the general public. This legislation aligns the statutory and regulatory requirements so the lifeguard requirement in a rental community is the same as for a single-family residential community, hotel, motel and campground.

• HB 355 passed the House March 28 with 38 votes and three absent to provide 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 for 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 ensure that such businesses have access to necessary financial and accounting services.

• SJR 6 would direct healthcare professional licensure boards to review their existing professional licensure application language to revise or remove all intrusive and stigmatizing language around mental health care and treatment, and replace it with language that meets the threshold requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Senate Housing and Land Use

• SB 23 would require counties and municipalities in Delaware to develop ordinances that allow for the construction of in-law suites or garage apartments on single-family homes to help increase Delaware’s housing supply.

• SB 247 would protect residents of manufactured housing communities from landlords who seek to impose rent increases even while refusing to address outstanding health and safety violations.

Senate Judiciary Committee

• SS2 for SB 169 would create a process for compensating individuals who have been wrongfully convicted in the state. To obtain compensation, a petitioner must show they were pardoned, or, after the conviction was overturned, the charges were dismissed or the petitioner was acquitted on retrial; or the petitioner entered an Alford plea after the conviction was overturned and that the petitioner was innocent of the crimes for which the petitioner was convicted. The prosecuting agency can prevent compensation by showing that petitioners were accomplices to the crimes at issue, or that petitioners intentionally “took the fall” for the true perpetrators. Successful petitioners are awarded damages based on the amount of time they served sentences of incarceration, parole or registration on the sex offender registry solely as a result of the wrongful convictions, as well as reimbursement of fines, fees and costs related to the wrongful conviction. The act also provides an emergency stipend and post-release services for individuals who are released from incarceration and who receive pardons or whose convictions are overturned, vacated or reversed.

Senate Labor Committee

• SB 229 would extend the right of employees to inspect their own personnel files to former employees, and updates the specific information included in personnel files that an employee may inspect.

• SB 255 would provide that a prime general contractor is jointly and severally liable for a violation of the Wage Payment and Collection Act that is committed by a subcontractor, regardless of whether the subcontractor is in a direct contractual relationship with the prime general contractor; authorizes the attorney general to bring an action to collect wages under the Wage Payment and Collection Act; and provides that a prime general contractor is jointly or severally liable for a violation of the Delaware Contractor Registration Act by a subcontractor.

• SB 256 would clarify the attorney general’s existing authority to enforce the state’s consumer protection laws, specifically the attorney general’s ability to pursue nonpenalty civil remedies, such as damages and restitution, without having to show that a person’s violation of a law or regulation enforced by the Department of Justice’s Division of Consumer Protection was willful.

Resolutions

• HR 42 passed the House to designate March 28 as opening day for baseball and softball.

• HCR 104 unanimously passed the House and Senate to make March 28 We the Veterans Day.

• HCR 106 passed both House and Senate to designate April 7-13 Delaware Library Week

• SCR 140 unanimously passed both House and Senate March 28 to honor World War II Black aviation units making up the Tuskegee Airmen and name 13 Delawareans who were members.

• SCR 139 unanimously passed the House and Senate March 28 making April 6 National Tartan Day.

• HCR 110 unanimously passed the House and Senate March 28 proclaiming the fourth Thursday in March a National Tuskegee Airmen Commemoration Day.

• SCR 137 unanimously passed the House and Senate March 28 recognizing March 29 as National Vietnam War Veterans Day.