This Senate Concurrent Resolution establishes a Veterans Sub-Committee of the Correction & Law Enforcement Committee of the State’s Behavioral Health Consortium.
This Act requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility care services, including in vitro fertilization ("IVF") procedures, for individuals who suffer from a disease or condition that results in the inability to procreate or to carry a pregnancy to a live birth. This Act also requires that health insurance offered in this State provide coverage for fertility preservation for individuals diagnosed with cancer and other diseases, when medically necessary treatment could adversely affect their fertility. Like all other diseases, infertility should be covered by insurance. According to the National Infertility Association, RESOLVE, infertility affects 1 in 8 couples and 3 in 4 never obtain needed treatment, often because they cannot afford it. Everyone deserves the right to procreate and to try to build a family. Right now, many Delaware families diagnosed with infertility fall into a “coverage gap” and pay out-of-pocket for fertility care services. Only certain employers provide any fertility care coverage in Delaware and what they do provide is often very limited. Families generally must pay high co-pays or adhere to service restrictions and lifetime dollar caps that strictly limit their treatment options, and thus make it unaffordable for many of them to proceed without risking their financial security or without achieving a successful pregnancy. For example, 1 IVF cycle can cost between $15,000 and $25,000 and, on average, it takes 2 to 3 cycles to achieve pregnancy. Additionally, highly inflated managed care pharmacy prices for IVF medications, where families with coverage can pay as much as 100% more for medications compared to prices charged to self-pay families, often contribute to 25-50% or more of total IVF costs, which can quickly drain lifetime caps and severely limit overall IVF care options. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 15 states currently have laws regarding insurance coverage for infertility diagnosis or treatment, including 2 states that border Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland. This puts the State at a significant competitive disadvantage, as many reproductive age residents intentionally change employers and leave Delaware to gain more attractive fertility care benefits. It is also well-documented that individuals who self-pay for an IVF procedure, or have limited benefits, often demand that 2 or more embryos be transferred to their uterus. This greatly increases the risk of multiple births and is a dangerous and costly approach for heavily burdened health care resources, and can be completely avoided with greater access to covered fertility care services. Studies show that states with insurance coverage have a lower rate of multiple births because fewer embryos are transferred. This Act requires insurers to cover fertility care services based on the current standard of care for IVF treatments to achieve pregnancy success rates for singleton births at the lowest possible costs. This will greatly reduce the risk of multiple births and greatly reduce hospital and health care costs, thus saving employers money. Several recent studies have found that the cost of perinatal and neonatal care for twins is about $100,000, whereas singleton pregnancies cost about $13,000. Triplet pregnancies can cost $400,000 or more. For every 100 pregnancies from IVF that are singletons but could have been twins, about $8.7 million dollars is saved, on top of reduced pain and suffering for parents and premature babies. This Act would significantly reduce this high financial and societal burden by promoting IVF technologies that use single-embryo transfers. This Act could increase the number of persons treated for infertility, but also increase the number of babies born in Delaware by 2-300 per year, thus increasing the state’s birth rate by 1-2% and providing a boost to the local economy, while also decreasing health care costs.
This Act permits private sector labor organizations and employers to enter into union security agreements to the full extent allowed under federal law.
This Act strengthens the shelter requirements for dogs that are kept outside by requiring the following: 1. Adds failure to provide enhanced shelter to the crime of cruelty to animals. 2. Adds a third or subsequent violation of the shelter requirements, to the crime of cruelty to animals. 3. That dogs be provided with enhanced shelter if the dog is outdoors for more than 30 minutes between the hours of 11:00 pm and 6:00 am or when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. 4. That cages, crates, and carriers intended for travel or short-term, temporary confinement may not be used as outdoor housing facilities. 5. That outdoor housing facilities and enhanced shelters must provide clean and moisture-resistant bedding material and protection from wind. 6. That an enhanced shelter must include the following: minimum space requirements; heat when the temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit; fresh, circulating air when the temperature is above 90 degrees Fahrenheit; and food and water that do not freeze. This Act also imposes a higher civil penalty for subsequent violations of § 3044F, the specifications for the humane handling, care, and treatment of dogs. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
This Bill creates a tax exemption for non-profit owned swimming pools in New Castle County and Kent County. Sussex County has no similar exemption statute.
This Senate Concurrent Resolution directs the Department of Education, with the assistance of the Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association, to promulgate regulations that permit coaches to coach student athletes out of season, with restrictions that minimize the risk of unethical activity.
This Act brings Delaware sex offender registration laws into compliance with the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA") by standardizing the tier designation of sex offenders are assigned based upon offense of conviction. This Act removes discretion previously granted to the Board of Parole to redesignate sex offenders and standardizes designation in a manner consistent with established Superior Court precedent. See State v. Brown, 2013 WL 2149882 (Del. Super. 2013); Lane v. Board of Parole, 2012 WL 5509711 (Del. Super. 2012). Finally, this Act streamlines the designation process by directing review to the Superior Court in the first instance.
Importers, manufacturers and dealers of “destructive weapons” are licensed and regulated under Federal law. Under existing Delaware law, importers, manufacturers and dealers of destructive weapons are not permitted to deliver them to purchasers in Delaware who are otherwise permitted to own such weapons, such as military or police forces. This Bill will permit properly licensed importers, manufacturers and dealers to possess and store destructive weapons in this State and engage in activities associated with the sale and delivery of such weapons to (or from) qualified purchasers. All other changes made by this Act are technical corrections to conform the existing law to the guidelines of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
The Certification of Adoption of Sustainability and Transparency Standards Act (the “Act”) establishes a voluntary disclosure regime to foster dialogue around sustainability and responsibility among participating Delaware business entities and their various stakeholders. Because issues relating to sustainability and responsibility are fact-specific and fact-intensive and may vary greatly depending on, among other things, the size of the entity, the nature of its business and operations, and the industry in which it operates, the Act does not prescribe specific standards, measures of performance or criteria for evaluating performance. Rather, consistent with the enabling approach of Delaware business laws generally, the Act requires the governing body of each entity seeking certification under the Act to adopt principles, guidelines and standards to guide its business activities in a sustainable and responsible manner, as well as metrics for assessing whether it has met its objectives. Although Section 5003D of the Act grants the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware (the “Secretary of State”) the authority and discretion to provide the form of application for certification under the Act, the Act does not contemplate that State officers will make qualitative judgments regarding the standards or metrics that an entity adopts. The Act also does not contemplate or require that State officers determine qualitatively whether an entity has been operated in a sustainable and responsible manner. The Secretary of State's certification is focused on information acknowledged by an authorized representative of the entity regarding its adoption of procedures to operate sustainably and responsibly and its commitment to disclose, at least annually, such procedures. To that end, Section 5003D of the Act requires an entity applying for certification under the Act to make disclosures regarding the sustainability and responsibility standards it has adopted, the metrics it uses to evaluate whether it has met those standards, and its performance in meeting those standards. The Act is entirely voluntary. The decision whether to seek certification is in the sole discretion of each entity. The Act imposes no obligations on any Delaware entities that have not elected certification. (Of course, any person or entity that misrepresents an entity's certified status may be subject to civil or criminal fines or penalties.) The Act does not impose fines or penalties on entities that elect not to seek certification, nor does it impose penalties or fines on entities that, having become certified, fail to satisfy their own performance standards. Moreover, the Act specifies that fiduciary liability shall not be imposed as a result of, among other things, the decision whether or not to seek certification or the failure to meet specific sustainability and responsibility standards.
This Act ensures that the spouses of those killed in the line of duty are able to receive benefits for the remainder of their lives regardless of future marital status. When a surviving spouse remarries, the surviving spouse's benefit is reduced to 90% of the original benefit for the first 10 years after the remarrying and must be reduced to 75% of the original benefit thereafter until the death of the surviving spouse. Spouses of fallen first responders should not be forced to make decisions to carry on with their lives based on financial considerations.
