Rep. Danny Short

This Act requires a health-care practitioner to offer a patient ultrasound imaging and auscultation of fetal heart tone services before terminating a human pregnancy. The patient is free to choose not to view the ultrasound or listen to the auscultation of fetal heart tone. This Act is known as "The Woman's Right to Know Act.”

This Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes February 4, 2026, as "USO Day" in the State of Delaware and honors USO Delaware for its important and inspiring work in support of military members and their families.

This resolution affirms that members of the General Assembly are committed to civility in public discourse and that they will lead by example to actively cultivate a political culture in Delaware where collaboration, respect, and productive discourse can thrive.

Maddy summarySCR 125 is a ceremonial resolution designating January 9, 2026, as "Law Enforcement Appreciation Day" in Delaware. It formally recognizes and honors law enforcement officers across the state through a designated day of acknowledgment. This resolution does not create new laws or alter policies; it solely serves to express state-level appreciation. The measure passed unanimously in both legislative chambers on January 13, 2026.

This Act generally requires a student athlete to compete for athletic teams or in sports associated with the student athlete’s biological sex, as determined at or near birth and based on the student athlete’s birth certificate or other government record if a birth certificate is unobtainable. An exception is permitted to allow female athletes to compete in male sports if a corresponding female sport is not available. To facilitate this Act, a school district, charter school, or Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association member school must designate an athletic team or sport sponsored by the school district, charter school, or Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association member school based on the biological sex of students.

This Act amends the Charter of the City of Seaford relating to the City of Seaford Police Department (the “Department”) by adding the existing Chief of Police position and by more clearly outlining the organization, oversight, powers, and duties of the Department and its members. The Mayor appoints a Chief of Police, with the advice and consent of the City Council. The Chief of Police reports directly to the City Manager. The Chief of Police commands and supervises the Department and oversees the Department’s organization, administration, and operation. The Chief of Police may do all of the following: 1. Establish directives, rules, regulations, and policies necessary to effectively operate the Department. 2. Appoint, assign, promote, suspend, or dismiss members of the Department. The members of the Department have police powers and are conservators of the peace within the City of Seaford’s corporate limits. As allowed by state and local law, the members of the Department have police powers outside of the City of Seaford’s corporate limits. The members of the Department shall do all of the following: 1. Enforce all applicable federal, state, and local laws and ordinances. 2. Maintain public order. 3. Protect life and property. 4. Bring arrested individuals before the appropriate judicial authority. This Act also removes the misdemeanor penalty, imposed under the Charter, for a member of the Department neglecting or refusing to perform the member’s duties. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a municipal charter.

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.

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.

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.

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.