Rep. Bill Carson

This Act permits an insurance company to apply for and receive a salvage certificate, clear of all liens, after payment of a total loss claim, if the insurance company has not been able to obtain the properly endorsed certificate of title. This Act also permits a licensed auto actions to apply for and receive a salvage certificate, clear of all liens, if the auto auction took possession of motor vehicle at the request of an insurance company and the motor vehicle has been abandoned at the auto auction facility for more than 30 days. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Bill eliminates the prohibition against hunting for deer on Sundays. Additionally, it maintains the applicable agency regulating public lands authority and discretion to regulate, including prohibition of, deer hunting on Sundays. Lastly, the bill allows for the harvesting of deer on Sundays through DNREC’s deer depredation programs.

This Bill amends the Charter of the Town of Smyrna in the following ways: Section 1 removes the Board of Assessment from the list of Boards the Town can appoint. Section 2 replaces the appointment of a Board of Assessment with a Tax Assessor, which may be a qualified individual or entity. Section 2 eliminates language regarding the swearing in of the Board of Assessment and replaces references to the Board of Assessment with Tax Assessor. Section 3 replaces references to the Board of Assessment with Tax Assessor. Section 4 replaces references to the Board of Assessment with Tax Assessor and requires the Tax Assessor to be available to answer questions and provide information on the date of assessment appeals. Section 5 increases the timeframe for repaying short term borrowings from five years to fifteen years. Section 5 states that expenditures not secured by the full faith and credit of the town are exempt from the requirements of section 13 and that the Town Council may adopt an ordinance authorizing the Town Manager to borrow up to $100,000 without a Resolution of the Town Council approving the borrowing.

This Act provides supplementary appropriations to certain Grants-in-Aid for Fiscal Year 2019. Section 1 – Government Units and Senior Center $24,685,721 Section 2 – One-Times and Community Agencies $20,386,744 Section 3 – Fire Companies $6,760,542 Section 4 – Veterans Organizations $312,631 GRAND TOTAL $52,145,638

This Act expands the total number of vice-chancellors on the Court of Chancery to 6 and makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

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 Substitute Act implements certain recommendations adopted by the Lottery & Gaming Study Commission in 2015 and the Video Lottery Advisory Council in 2017, in recognition of significant changes in the regional gaming marketplace and the State’s desire to remain competitive in the face of a proliferation of gaming venues in neighboring states. This Substitute Act adjusts the revenue sharing model in a way that ensures that the State continues to benefit from video lottery proceeds, ensures continued employment and horse racing at the State’s three video lottery facilities, and ensures that the video lottery agents will be able to reinvest capital in their facilities, market their facilities, and maintain their high standards of customer service. Effective July 1, 2018, this Substitute Act does all of the following: 1. Reduces the State’s share of gross table game revenues from 29.4% to 15.5%. 2. Suspends the table game license fee due June 1, 2019, and continues to suspend the fee in subsequent fiscal years if each agent increases expenditures on marketing, wages, and benefits by its pro rata share of the license fee. 3. Increases purses for horsemen by 0.6%, phased-in over two years. 4. Reduces the State’s share of gross slot machine revenues from 43.5% to 41.5% or 42.5% to 40.5%, as applicable, with additional reductions of 2% possible for each video lottery agent starting with the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2019, based on qualified capital expenditures reaching 3% of video lottery net proceeds. The Substitute Act also removes the prohibition against video lottery agents operating on Christmas or Easter. The Substitute Act differs from the Act with respect to the increases in purses for horsemen, a revised basis upon which to calculate the State’s share of gross slot machine and table games revenues, and requirements for video lottery agents to increase capital expenditures, marketing, wages, and benefits to continue the suspension of table game license fees and receive additional reductions in the State’s share of video lottery net proceeds. Sections 2, 5, and 6 of this Substitute Act are drafted to amend the law in effect at the time the changes are to take effect.

This Resolution provides the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for Fiscal Year 2018.

This Resolution provides the official revenue, refund, and unencumbered funds estimates for Fiscal Year 2019.

This Act appropriates $49,167,700 to provide a $500 one-time salary supplement to full-time and part-time employees, to provide a $400 pension supplement to pensioners and provides one-time funded projects through the Office of Management and Budget.