Rep. Paul Baumbach

This Act updates the definition of "sexual orientation" throughout the Delaware Code by adding asexuality and pansexuality. 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. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

There were 139 traffic fatalities in Delaware in 2021, the highest number of traffic fatalities since 2006. Senate Concurrent Resolution 94 of the 151st Delaware General Assembly set a goal of no more than 100 traffic fatalities per year and tasked state agencies to meet that goal by 2025. Instead of moving towards meeting the General Assembly’s goal, however, traffic fatalities increased to 165 in 2022, deepening the crisis on Delaware’s roads. To reverse this situation, the “Everyone Gets Home Act” makes changes to the Delaware Code to sharpen the Department of Transportation’s focus on the three most common types of fatal crashes: intersection (including driveway); roadway departure; and mid-block pedestrian. This Act clarifies the Department’s authority to designate controlled-access facilities as a safety countermeasure for both intersection and midblock pedestrian crashes and, when the facility designation has received the consent of county government, requires counties to use their own authority to assist the Department in consolidating vehicle entrances and exits to and from the facility. In addition, this Act authorizes the Department to designate roadways as low-speed streets and low-speed local roads in order to address fatal roadway departure crashes related to vehicle speed, and permits counties to request such designations to meet their own traffic safety goals. Finally, this Act expands the Department’s discretion to deploy new traffic-control devices in order to reduce fatal crashes. This Substitute Bill differs from HB 247 in that it does the following: (1) Clarifies that designated low-speed local streets and roads must be designed and operated with a Safe System Approach, as adopted by the United States Department of Transportation. (2) Includes “implementing corridor access management” as a safety countermeasure on designated low-speed local streets or roads. (3) Requires the Department to receive approval from the local law-enforcement agency with jurisdiction over a road before the Department designates such road a low-speed local street or road pursuant to a county or municipal government request. (4) Clarifies that the Department has discretion to adopt various standards for traffic-control devices or applications, even if they are different from uniform state standards, so long as they reduce fatal or serious injuries or are in accordance with a Safe System Approach. (5) Authorizes the Department to acquire property rights along highways to consolidate commercial entrances or to create new commercial interconnections when the Department determines such consolidation or interconnection would likely improve safety. (6) Removes Section 1 from the bill, which required counties to withhold permits for buildings abutting a controlled-access facility if necessary to obtain consent for vehicle access to and from adjacent properties. (7) Removes language that defined “full” and “partial” controlled-access facilities, and removes these terms from the rest of the bill. (8) Removes Section 7 of the bill that authorized the Department to designate and establish partial or full controlled-access facilities in any unincorporated area where there is a high incidence of fatal crashes related to the presence of highway entrances or exits. (9) Makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

School board members are currently required to engage both in financial responsibility training and a training to understand educational and legal issues about due process and special education. This Act will require that a school board president inform each new member of the board of the training obligation. A school board president must also send a letter by January 15 of every year to any school board member who has not fulfilled the training obligation by January 1 following that member’s election or appointment. The Act also makes the special education due process training requirement explicit in the Code for members of a charter school board of directors as well as members of a traditional or vocational technical district school board. This training is already required for charter schools by regulation.

This Act mandates that employees of institutions of higher education and students receive training in sexual assault prevention. Although the current law makes training available, it has not been required. This Act further changes the reporting period in which academic institutions must report information on campus sexual assaults from the calendar year to the academic year. Finally, this Act requires the DOJ to post the annual reports from the previous 5 years on its website and to include the aggregate data from the previous 5 years in each report so that data trends are easily identified.

This Act requires the Department of Human Resources to develop an executive branch policy restricting nepotism in state employment and prohibiting supervision of a state employee by a relative. It further requires the legislative and judicial branches, as well as offices headed by other elected officials to develop and implement comparable policies.

This Substitute bill adds 5 additional speech-language diagnosis to the 2 diagnoses listed in H.B. 273 and references that all 7 speech-language diagnoses are classified in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) for billing purposes. This Substitute bill broadens the definition of “child” from 1 year to first grade to include all children from birth to age 18. This Substitute bill deletes the definition of carrier since the term is not referred to in these new sections and clarifies that Section 2 refers to group and blanket health insurance policies not individual health policies. This Substitute bill also clarifies that the Act applies to all health insurance contracts delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed after December 31, 2024.

According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of death from cancer in men. It is estimated that about 1 in 41 men will die of prostate cancer. According to ZERO Prostate Cancer, Black men face serious health care disparities regarding prostate cancer. 1 in 6 Black men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime compared to 1 in 8 men overall. Black men are also 1.7 times more likely to be diagnosed with, and 2.1 times more likely to die from, prostate cancer than white men.  HB 302 requires all group, blanket, and individual health insurance policies to cover prostate screening for men at risk of prostate cancer. This Substitute bill broadens the definition of “prostate screening” to include any medically necessary and clinically appropriate method for the detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer, including a digital rectal exam and prostate specific antigen test, and associated laboratory work. This Substitute bill also clarifies the ages at which prostate screenings must be covered, consistent with the American Cancer Society guidelines, as follows: (1) Age 50 for men at average risk of developing prostate cancer; (2) Age 45 for men at high risk of developing prostate cancer, including African American men and men who have a first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer; and (3) Age 40 for men at even higher risk for prostate cancer, including men who have more than one first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer.  This Substitute bill also extends the effective date to health insurance policies modified after December 31, 2025, and makes technical corrections.

This Act authorizes the creation of Family Justice Centers within Delaware to provide victims of crime with a single source to obtain resources and support services.

This Act establishes a right to counsel for indigent parents in DSCYF custody proceedings. Parent representation will primarily be provided by a legal services entity contracted with the Family Court, but may also be provided by the Office of Defense Services or a private attorney appointed by the Court.

This Act does the following: (1) Makes amendments to the administration of the Ivyane Davis Memorial Scholarship Fund by removing disbursement requirements to allow more flexibility to scholarship recipients, and clarifying that scholarship funds may be used for direct or indirect educational expenses and may not be used to reduce the amount of a waiver under the Delaware Fostering Independence Through Education Tuition Waiver Program. The Act also removes the 1 year residency requirement preceding application for the scholarship. (2) Makes amendments to the administration of the Delaware Fostering Independence Through Education Tuition Waiver Program by codifying responsibility for administering the program with the Office of the Child Advocate (“Office”), and clarifying the responsibilities of the Office and those of the institutions of higher education. The Act clarifies that the waiver applies to both full-time and part-time students and summer and winter classes. The Act also lowers the maximum age of eligibility from 26 to 25, to bring this Program into alignment with the requirements of the Chafee Educational and Training Voucher program. Finally, the Act mandates that Ivyane Davis Scholarships and Chafee Education and Training Vouchers may not be applied to reduce the amount of the waiver and that students eligible for waivers may not apply for or take out loans to reduce the amount of the waiver. (3) Amends the Office of the Child Advocate’s duties outlined in § 9005A of Title 29 of the Delaware Code to include administration of the Fostering Independence Through Education Tuition Waiver Program. (4) Makes technical corrections for uniformity of language and to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.