Ohio recently adopted “Braden’s Law”, named after Braden Markus. Braden, a high school student, tragically took his own life after being coerced into sharing sensitive photographs online and then threatened with release of the photographs on social media if he did not pay money. Braden’s parents, Jenn and Jarod, endured months of anguish after being denied access to Braden’s personal cell phone records. In response, part of Braden’s Law requires courts to adjudicate a parent or legal guardian’s request for an order directing access to a deceased minor’s digital assets and digital accounts within 30 days. In Delaware, a fiduciary can access to digital assets and digital accounts under Chapter 50 of Title 12. A fiduciary must send to the custodian of digital assets or digital accounts a valid written request for access. The custodian must comply with the valid written request within 60 days. If the custodian fails to comply, the fiduciary can ask the Court of Chancery (the “Court”) for an order directing the custodian to grant access to the digital assets. If the fiduciary seeking access to a digital asset or digital account is a parent or legal guardian of a minor deceased account holder, this Act requires the Court to treat the application as expedited and aim to resolve the application within 30 days after the application is filed. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
The Delaware State Inspire Scholarship Program (Inspire scholarship) pays undergraduate tuition for 8 semesters at Delaware State University (DSU). Some students complete their undergraduate degrees in less than 8 semesters because they take heavier than average course loads each semester or because they earned college credits during high school. This Act aims to reward students for their hard work and provide additional access and opportunity for them to continue their higher education by allowing students to use the Inspire scholarship program towards additional levels of higher education if the student obtains their undergraduate degree before using all 8 semesters of eligibility. Specifically, this Act extends eligibility for Inspire scholarships as follows: 1. Under current law, most students may use Inspire grant money for up to 8 continuous semesters towards a bachelor's degree at DSU. This Act allows students who complete a bachelor's degree in less than 8 continuous semesters to use the remaining Inspire grant money towards a graduate degree program at DSU. 2. The Inspire scholarship program provides additional time for individuals who lived in foster care to complete an undergraduate degree. This Act makes corresponding changes to the eligibility for these individuals so that they also can use remaining Inspire grant money towards a graduate degree at DSU if they complete their undergraduate degree before exhausting the time available to do so. In addition, this Act modifies 2 requirements for eligibility for the Inspire scholarship program for students using the scholarship for a graduate degree program so that students may be enrolled on a part-time basis and are not required to maintain continuous enrollment. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act is a Substitute for SB 142 and differs from SB 142 in the following ways: 1. Specifies that schools must provide age-appropriate training to students about the dangers and warning signs of sexual extortion, including online safety. 2. Delays implementation of employee training and student instruction to August 1, 2027. 3. Makes additional technical corrections to § 4163 of Title 14. In 2022, the FBI reported that law enforcement received over 7,000 reports related to the financial sexual extortion of minors, resulting in 3,000 victims and more than a dozen suicides. In 2023, South Carolina adopted “Gavin’s Law” in honor of Gavin Guffey, the son of Representative Brandon Guffey. Gavin was victim of sexual extortion, which led him to tragically take his own life at only 17 years old. Gavin’s Law created the crime of sexual extortion in South Carolina. In Delaware, sexual extortion is a crime under § 774 of Title 11. It is classified as a Class E felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. This Act increases the penalty for sexual extortion to a Class B felony, which is punishable by a minimum of 2 years in prison up to a maximum of 25 years in prison, under the following circumstances: 1. The defendant is an adult and the victim is a child, as defined in § 1100 of Title 11, or a vulnerable adult, as defined in §1105 of Title 11. 2. The defendant’s sexual extortion of the victim causes the victim to suffer serious physical injury or death. Gavin’s Law also requires school districts to educate students, and their parents or guardians, about the crime of sexual extortion. South Carolina’s Department of Education recommended including the required education in the Erin’s Law curriculum. Delaware has adopted its own version of Erin’s Law, under § 4163 of Title 14, that requires school districts and charter schools to provide appropriate training to employees and students, and to provide information to parents, about personal body safety, child safety, and how to detect and report child abuse. This Act specifies that information about the crime of sexual extortion must be included in the educational programming required by Erin’s Law. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual, including restructuring § 774 of Title 11.
This Act requires the Division of Public Health (“Division”) to create a website where Delaware residents can find out the level of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” in their public drinking water systems. This Act also requires the Division to notify public water utilities if the PFAS in their water exceeds certain limits, known as maximum containment levels, or MCLs. Water companies receiving this notice from the Division must then notify their customers that the PFAS levels in their water exceed the MCLs. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that PFAS, which are a class of chemicals that do not break down naturally, are linked to certain cancers, liver problems, thyroid issues, low birth weights and birth defects, decreased immunity, and other serious health issues. Children may be particularly susceptible to negative health outcomes from PFAS exposure, with some research linking high PFAS levels in children to developmental problems and reduced effectiveness of vaccines. Although Delaware is currently working toward making PFAS information available to consumers as required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the federal rule that requires water systems to report on PFAS does not require them to do so until 2027, and water systems will not face consequences for exceeding MCLs until 2029. By providing everyone who uses public drinking water systems with the ability to determine the level of PFAS in their water prior to 2027, and to be notified when levels exceed MCLs, this Act empowers Delaware residents to advocate for safer water. This Act takes effect 90 days after its enactment into law.
With 60% of U.S. households living paycheck to paycheck, 40% of Americans having less than $300 in savings, 33% of Americans having saved nothing for retirement, 95% of Americans having not saved enough for retirement, and 87% of American teens admitting not understanding their finances, financial literacy education in Delaware high schools is needed. This Act, which may be cited as “The Equity and Inclusion in Financial Literacy for All High School Students in Delaware Act”, requires high schools to provide, at a minimum, a 1/2 credit on financial literacy. And, beginning with students entering grade 9 in the 2026 through 2027 school year, successful completion of the credit will be required to obtain a high school diploma. This Act requires the credit to include instruction which meets the financial literacy standards for high school students adopted by the Department of Education. This substitute corrects a reference from "course" to "credit" in the synopsis.
As a part of Delaware’s commemoration of Delaware’s 250th anniversary of Separation Day and America’s semiquincentennial, this Act establishes a new background special license plate that will be made available to those Delawareans wishing to honor and appropriately remember this special time in our State’s history. A background special license plate supports a cause and is available for purchase by the public at large. The numbers, letters, or both, assigned will be the same as the license plate assigned to the owner’s vehicle at the time of the application for the plate. This Act requires a greater-than-majority vote for passage because Article VIII, § 11 of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of 3/5 of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly when a new tax or license fee is imposed.
This Act adopts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act ("the Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Act was adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2020 and has been adopted in 10 states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and is currently pending in 10 states. The Act protects the public’s right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment without abusive, expensive legal retaliation. Specifically, the Act combats the problem of strategic lawsuits against public participation, also called “SLAPPs.” A SLAPP may come in the form of a defamation, invasion of privacy, nuisance, or other claim, but its real goal is to entangle the defendant of a SLAPP in expensive litigation and stifle the ability to engage in constitutionally protected activities. While Delaware has an “anti-SLAPP” law (see §§ 8136 through 8138 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the law received a score of “D-” from the Institute for Free Speech due to limited types of speech it protects and lack of basic protections provided by the Act.
This Act establishes the following principles in regards to public library material: (1) Library material is provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all persons the library serves; (2) Library material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a catalogue because of the origin, background, or views of a persons who created the material; (3) Material should not be excluded, removed, or prohibited from a library because of partisan, ideological, or religious disapproval. This Act requires that public libraries adopt a library collection development policy consistent with the foregoing principles. The written policy must include the policy and procedure that libraries will follow when receiving and reviewing objections to library material. It further requires that all library material that is under review due to an objection must remain available for use by library patrons until the review process is concluded. It also prohibits the governing body of a library from suspending, disciplining, or otherwise retaliating against an employee of a library that acts in accordance with the State principles and media content policy. This Act also creates similar requirements for school libraries and requires that public schools create policies and procedures for reviewing objections to school library material that conform to the established collection development policy for school libraries. Within these policies and procedures, school libraries must include: (1) a uniform process to submit an objection to material in a school library; (2) a requirement that material under review due to an objection remain available for use by students and school personnel until the review process is concluded; and (3) a reasonable timeline to conduct and conclude the review process. An appeal of a decision determining whether school library material may remain in the school library may be made to the board of the local education agency. A final appeal from the decision of the board of the local education agency may be made to a School Library Review Committee, which is made up of the following individuals or the individual’s designee: (1) The President of the School Chiefs’ Association. (2) The State Librarian. (3) The Secretary of the Department of Education. (4) The President of the Delaware State Education Association. (5) The President of the Association of School Administrators. (6) The President of the Delaware Association of School Librarians. (7) The President of the Delaware Library Association.
This Act increases the maximum amount of fees that the State Fire Marshal's Office can charge as follows: 1. The maximum fee for a license to service portable unit fire suppression applicance is changed from $50 to $100. 2. The maximum fee for all other permits, licenses, and certifications as required in the State Fire Prevention Regulations is changed from $25 to $100. These changes are being made to reflect the increasing cost of providing these services since the maximum fees were last set several decades ago. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 10 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 increase the effective rate of any tax levied or license fee imposed.
Currently, the Delaware Volunteer Fire Service Revolving Loan Fund may only obtain funding from the General Assembly through appropriation. This Act would allow for funding and donations to be made by any person, charitable organizations, and counties of the State. When a county contributes to the Fund, the Act requires the Fund ensure county specific contributions are spent on loans to fire companies within that county. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware legislative Drafting Manual.
Section 1 of this Act requires that $7,000 be paid for the funeral expenses of a deceased member of a volunteer fire company, volunteer fire company ladies auxiliary, or volunteer ambulance and rescue. Consistent with a legal interpretation of the existing law by state agencies, Section 1 of this Act continues to enable the payment of funeral expenses for the funeral of a deceased member of a volunteer fire company, volunteer fire company ladies auxiliary, or volunteer ambulance and rescue company even if the member was also a state employee entitled to burial benefits under § 8331 of Title 11, § 8395 of Title 11, § 8846 of Title 11, or § 5316 of Title 29. However, Section 1 of this Act makes changes to existing law to make this legal interpretation clear and to specifically identify the state employee burial benefits to which this provision applies. Section 2 of this Act delays the effect of this Act until October 1, 2025, to provide time to implement this Act after the enactment of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations act containing the funding for this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Act updates the Delaware Volunteerism Act to specify that high school students may complete their community service with local fire departments to obtain up to 1 elective credit. It also requires schools to notify students of the opportunity to earn elective credit through volunteer work at or before the time students select their classes. This Act also allows the Department of Education to promulgate regulations to implement the Delaware Volunteerism Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
