Sen. Kyle Gay

This Act adds the term “adjudication” to this section of the criminal code to enable juvenile defendants to petition the court for their adjudications of delinquency to be vacated and their juvenile criminal record to be expunged in regard to crimes, other than defined violent felonies, committed as a direct result of being victims of human trafficking.

This Act creates an exception to the restriction on manufacturers operating vehicle dealerships in Delaware to allow a manufacturer of zero-emission vehicles that does not operate any franchises to own, control or operate dealerships in Delaware.

This resolution directs the Delaware Department of Education and the Delaware Early Childhood Council to create a state target compensation scale and professional career pathway for early child care educators who teach ages birth through five years and issue a comprehensive written report by December 1, 2021.

This Resolution commends the work of the New Castle County Police Department Behavioral Health Unit and urges law enforcement agencies throughout the State to adopt a similar unit.

This Act revises the Delaware Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to address how public bodies may respond to FOIA requests that are unreasonable, disruptive, or abusive; requires all public bodies to post notice of meetings electronically; and clarifies and simplifies how a citizen may challenge a public body’s failure to comply with FOIA requirements. This Act does not change the definition of “public record." Specifically, this Act does all of the following: 1. It amends the examination and copying of public records provisions of FOIA to alleviate the significant time, resources, and financial burdens imposed on public bodies by FOIA requests that are unreasonable, disruptive, or abusive. This Act allows a public body to deny a request from a requestor whose intent is to disrupt the essential functions of the public body or abuse the process and allows a public body to charge administrative fees for all reviews, including the review and redaction of information exempt from FOIA. The review and redaction of information is often performed by non-attorney staff in conjunction with necessary review for exceptions and exclusions. 2. Allows a public body to post electronic notice of a meeting on a website maintained, or designated, by the public body. 3. It clarifies, simplifies, and makes uniform the remedies available to citizens when a public body fails to comply with FOIA obligations as follows: • Clarifies that Attorney General or Chief Deputy determinations are advisory and not appealable. • Clarifies the timeframes in which a citizen may file a FOIA petition with the Attorney General. • Eliminates the need for citizens to petition the Attorney General before initiating a lawsuit against an individual or entity that the Attorney General is obliged to represent because this appeal right was under utilized and of limited utility given the limited record produced in the petition process. • Gives citizens 120 days to bring suit after a FOIA violation, except in that when a petition is filed, a petitioner may file a lawsuit the later of 120 days after the violation occurred or 30 days after issuance of the determination on the petition. • Provides the Superior Court with exclusive jurisdiction over all FOIA disputes, except that lawsuits involving claims for temporary, preliminary, or permanent injunctive relief when there is no adequate remedy at law must be brought in the Court of Chancery. • Clarifies that monetary damages may not be awarded for FOIA violations and requires that an award of attorney fees be reasonable. • Clarifies that a citizen may not file a petition with the Attorney General regarding a FOIA violation that is the subject of a pending lawsuit and that a pending petition is deemed withdrawn if the FOIA violation becomes the subject of a lawsuit. • Imposes a deadline for citizens to submit petitions to the Attorney General to ensure that citizens have sufficient time to pursue judicial remedies after the issuance of a written determination. • Requires the Attorney General or Chief Deputy to issue a written determination within 30 business days of receiving a petition, unless there are exceptional circumstances. 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 charter issued to a municipal or educational corporation and this Act may amend a municipal or educational charter. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act establishes updated, detailed standards for the practice of hearing aid dispensing. A new scope of practice definition delineates permissible and prohibited activities and identifies when referral to a physician is required. The Board is given the authority to establish by rule and regulation standards for the sale of hearing aids. This Act will provide clarity and guidance for the public and for hearing aid dispensers. These changes track statutory language used in neighboring states, such as Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. This Act clarifies that a speech/language pathologist applicant must present a certificate of clinical competence issued by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). Audiologist applicants are not subject to this requirement. The distinction is that ASHA evaluates the speech/language pathologist’s practicum and clinical fellowship, which are requirements for licensure. In contrast, an audiologist applicant is only required to establish receipt of a doctoral degree. This Act revises the reciprocity requirements in the interests of clarity. This Act sets forth requirements for licensure of applicants who were educated outside of the United States. This Act states that a hearing aid applicant may be supervised by either an audiologist or hearing aid dispenser during the training period. This Act amends provisions relating to examination to comport with current practice. This Act provides that audiologists licensed prior to July 10, 2009 do not need to meet the educational requirement of a doctoral degree as long as they have maintained Delaware licensure. This Act requires licensees to update their addresses with the Board. Finally, this Act removes the definitions of audiology aide and speech pathology aide on the basis that the Board does not license aides. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

This Act authorizes the distribution of testing strips to determine the presence of fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances. Fentanyl testing strips could be distributed to the community along with opioid overdose reversal medication as a harm reduction strategy in the opioid addiction crisis. A number of states have authorized fentanyl testing strips distribution in recent years including Maryland, Rhode Island, the District of Columbia, and North Carolina. Twenty-seven states currently provide fentanyl testing strips through needle exchange programs. According to an April 2019 Delaware Health Alert published by the Department of Health and Social Services, fentanyl is a potent opioid that is increasingly being mixed into illicitly sold drugs, often without the buyer’s knowledge. In Delaware, fentanyl was involved in 72% of overdose deaths during 2018, up from 58% in 2017 according to the state’s Division of Forensic Science. During 2018, there were more fatal overdoses than any year on record with 400 deaths. This Act exempts fentanyl testing strips from the drug paraphernalia statute. This Act provides the limitations on liability for lay individuals and organizations in Section 1 of this Act because of the extraordinary epidemic of death that is occurring in Delaware as a result of fentanyl being mixed into illicit drugs. It is similar to liability exemptions under § 8135(b) of Title 10 and § 6801 of Title 16 of the Delaware Code for certain types of volunteers and Good Samaritans and is an exception to the general public policy against civil immunity.

This Act permits the extension of special education and related services to those students with a disability who turn 21 during the 2020-2021 school year to address unfinished learning as a result of the pandemic which resulted in the COVID-19 Declaration of a State of Emergency for the State of Delaware Due to a Public Health Threat declared by the Governor on March 12, 2020. The IEP for the child must be revised to reflect the specific basis for extending services and the specific education and related services that will be provided.

This resolution recognizes May 2021 as "Foster Care Month" in the State of Delaware.

This resolution recognizes June 5, 2021, as “HIV Long-Term Survivors Awareness Day” and memorializes the date as the 40th anniversary of the official start of the HIV epidemic in the United States.