Delaware Bills

Despite the demonstrated value of primary care, access to primary care for Delawareans has become increasingly difficult as reimbursement dollars have failed to support an adequate infrastructure. The national average for primary care investment for a plan is between 6 and 8% of the total medical spend. Delaware’s average is between 3 and 4%. Some states such as Rhode Island and Oregon have recognized that market forces have prohibited any one plan in a competitive market to reallocate its spend and have stepped in legislatively to move the market to a 12% spend across insurance products. This legislation ensures adequate spending in primary care. First, by setting Medicare rates as a baseline for primary care reimbursement. This is a short term fix to stem additional primary care failure and consolidation in Delaware. It also requires that over a period of years that the overall spend of plans into primary care increase gradually to reach the 12% investment mark, but without increasing the total spend so that premiums rise as a result of this reallocation. This legislation extends to individual, group, State employee, and public assistance plans.

This Act increases the penalties for certain offenses involving deadly weapons as follows: 1. For possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, from 2 to 5 years. 2. For possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, generally, from 3 to 6 years. 3. For possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, if the defendant has been convicted of 2 or more prior felonies, from 5 to 10 years. 4. For possession of a firearm or destructive weapon by a person prohibited who has been convicted of a violent felony, from 3 to 6 years. 5. For possession of a firearm or destructive weapon by a person prohibited who engages in the possession within 10 years of the conviction of a violent felony, from 5 to 10 years. 6. For possession of a firearm or destructive weapon by a person prohibited who has been convicted of 2 or more violent felonies, from 10 to 12 years. 7. For possession of a firearm by a person prohibited who negligently causes serious physical injury or death of another person through the use of the firearm, from 4 to 7 years. 8. For possession of a firearm by a person prohibited who negligently causes serious physical injury or death of another person through the use of the firearm and does so within 10 years of a conviction of a violent felony, from 6 to 12 years. 9. For possession of a firearm by a person prohibited who negligently causes serious physical injury or death of another person through the use of the firearm and has been convicted of 2 or more violent felonies, from 10 to 20 years. This Act increases the class of felony assigned to possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited under § 1448(e) of Title 11 to insure that the minimum sentence required by this Act does not exceed the maximum sentence for the class of felony assigned to the crime.

Under this Act, two circumstances which currently subject alcoholic liquor license holders or individuals to fines will be permitted: (1) An individual who is 19 years or older may serve alcohol to taproom patrons if the taproom has a separate dining facility that seats at least 12 people, provides complete meals, and has been approved by the Commissioner as meeting the requirements of this Act. (2) A taproom may allow an individual under the age of 21 years to enter the licensed premises until 9:00 p.m., if accompanied by a parent or legal guardian, and if the taproom has a separate dining facility that seats at least 12 people, provides complete meals, and has been approved by the Commissioner as meeting the requirements of this Act. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act is designed to centralize and modernize Delaware’s system for licensing its citizens to carry concealed deadly weapons. The current statutory scheme dates as far back as the Code Revision of 1974 and was not designed to handle the volume of applicants and licensees that are being experienced today, a volume that has at times unfairly overwhelmed both the Courts and the Office of the Attorney General. In 2016, alone, the Attorney General was required to conduct 8,522 background investigations, a volume level never envisioned by the General Assembly in 1974, and a volume which, over the years has placed increasingly unsustainable demands upon both the Superior Court and the Attorney General. As importantly, this ever-increasing volume of applicants and license renewals and the system’s inability to respond in a timely manner has led to a volume of complaints from those who have been forced to wait up to eight months for their applications to be fully processed in the current system. This Act is designed to relieve the current pressures on the Superior Court and the Office of the Attorney General by creating a small, centralized, and financially self-sustaining organization within state government designed specifically to administer the licensing of individuals to lawfully carry concealed deadly weapons; and, for the first time, to effectually license and regulate the instructors who provide the statutorily required training for such individuals. Section 1 of the Act creates the Delaware Commission on Concealed Carry Licensing and provides for the professional staff and procedural mechanisms for licensing persons to carry concealed deadly weapons. The Commission is also charged with licensing and regulating the Personal Protection Firearms Instructors who provide the statutorily mandated training for concealed carry licensees. By creating an organization dedicated solely to these tasks, the Act is also (1) able to eliminate the current single date expiration system which is responsible for at least some of the current backlog, and allows for licenses to expire and renewals to be processed on a year-round basis; and (2) ensure that the required training is delivered according to statutory standards by instructors who have qualified to deliver that training. Section 2 of the Act amends the concealed carry statute to transfer responsibility for concealed carry licensing from the Superior Court and the Attorney General to the Commission on Concealed Carry Licensing created in Section 1 of the Act. This section also attempts to enhance language in the existing statute. This section also increases the application fees for concealed carry applicants from $65 to $95 for initial applications and $75 for renewals. The section also establishes a fee of $100 for each issuance of a temporary license. It also allows for the licensing of those residents of contiguous states who regularly work in Delaware and who are already licensed by their home state to be separately licensed in Delaware under the same strict criteria required of Delaware residents, establishing an initial application fee for such individuals of $150 and a renewal fee of $100. Section 2 also addresses the issue of concealed carry reciprocity; clarifying the recognition process and ensuring Delaware residents may not circumvent Delaware’s licensing process by utilizing non-resident licenses from other states with which Delaware has reciprocity. Finally, Section 2 makes a clear statement that currently employed law enforcement officers are exempt from the licensing requirements that pertain to other citizens. Section 2 also extends the period of time retiring law enforcement officers have to avail themselves of the existing streamlined licensing regime available to such officers from 90 days to 180 days. Section 3 of the Act allows for the establishment of the Commission and a period of time for the Commission to be fully staffed and operational before transferring authority and responsibilities from the Courts and the Attorney General to the Commission.

The Delaware Advisory Council on Career and Technical Education received $331,700 out of the Delaware General Fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. Based upon a simple cost benefit analysis weighed against the budget issues Delaware is facing, it is clear these funds would produce greater benefits if utilized elsewhere. This bill will eliminate this annual expenditure by terminating this Committee via a total repeal of Chapter 86 of Title 14 of the Delaware Code.

In the 149th General Assembly House Bill No. 64 amended Title 29, Section 5120 to insure that mothers who are full time state employees may have up to 6 weeks of unpaid leave following the newborn(s) discharge from the hospital even if their FMLA benefits have been exhausted. This bill clarifies that school district employees are entitled to the same unpaid leave.

This bill permits a Municipal government to impose and collect a lodging tax of no more than 3 percent on hotel and motel rooms located in the incorporated areas of the Municipality.

This addition to Section 303 provides the Commission with the flexibility to consider and approve a low income residential utility rate or discount for qualified low income customers (those approved to participate in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program), provided that such rate may not provide a discount over 25% of the average customer class usage. This permits those customers to receive utility distribution services at a lower cost. In the case of Delmarva Power the discount is estimated to be no more than $10 -15 per month.

This bill sets the standards by which certain contractors and subcontractors are required, independently or through agreement with other organizations, to provide craft training for journeyman and apprentice levels through a bona fide program approved by and registered with the State of Delaware or the United States Department of Labor for projects in which workers shall be paid the prevailing wage under § 6960 of Title 29.

This Act replaces House Bill No. 285 and, in so doing, removes provisions of House Bill No. 285 related to creating an order of relinquishment process for removing firearms or ammunition from an individual subject to a report from a mental health provider under § 5402 of Title 16 as these provisions are now exclusively contained in House Substitute No. 1 for House Bill No. 302. This Act retains provisions of House Bill No. 285 that do the following: (1) Improve the structure and process related to the Relief from Disabilities Board. (2) Require that information regarding individuals who are declared guilty but mentally ill is reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System (NICS). (3) Require that an individual who is voluntarily admitted for inpatient treatment at a psychiatric treatment facility be informed of the individual’s rights and options as a voluntary patient. (4) Clarify that an individual who is emergently detained must be treated the same as an individual who is subject to a provisional admission and may not be considered involuntarily committed for any legal purpose. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act clarifies that the Public Advocate may appear before any federal or state court or federal or state administrative body in matters involving public utility rates, service, practices, and energy policy. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This bill allows real property tax itemized deductions to continue in Delaware notwithstanding recently enacted changes to federal income tax laws.