Legislative Report: Week of 4/3/2023

A bill to extend Medicaid to cover abortions was introduced in the House on Friday. This will be the most significant bill concerning abortion in Delaware since Roe v. Wade was overturned last year. Demonstrating the seriousness of the bill, it has already been assigned to a hearing in the House Health & Human Development committee on Wednesday, where it is likely to be released on party lines

The substitute for SB 1 (renters right to representation) and HB 37 (which allows renters to pay into an escrow if their landlord doesn’t fix unsafe or dangerous living conditions) are having a hearing in the House Housing committee on Wednesday. Whether it will be reported out of the committee likely depends on the vote of Rep. Bill Carson, who is the only Democrat on the committee who is not a sponsor. 

Both House and Senate committees will meet this week, with several impactful bills on the agendas

Bills In Committee This Week

For the sake of length and clarity, we will only be sharing notable bills in these reports. Click on the committee name under the Committee Meeting Info column for a link to the meeting agenda, in-person or virtual public comment info, and livestream link.

You can also check here for the full list of committee meetings and click “view” next to each meeting for the full agenda and additional information.

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Committee Meeting Info	Date	Time
HB 91	Bush	Creates a new offense of Aggravated Criminal Mischief with enhanced penalties (class D felony) applicable when an individual knowingly damages or tampers with critical utility infrastructure intending to disrupt utility services	House Public Safety	Tuesday, 4/4/23	11:00 AM
HB 95	Griffith	Requires Family Court to award possession and provide for the care of companion animals when dividing marital property after considering the well-being of the companion animal	House Judiciary	Tuesday, 4/4/23	12:00 PM
HB 110	Minor-Brown	Medicaid coverage for abortion	House Health	Wednesday, 4/5/23	11:00 AM
HB 102	Bush	Expedites the issuance of a temporary entrance permit for commercial and economic development projects.	House Economic Development	Wednesday, 4/5/23	12:00 PM
HB 104	Bush	The state’s pre-application process for land use process, known as PLUS, was created 20 years ago and has served to increase coordination among state and local agencies. In doing so, it has fulfilled its intent of providing predictability and consistency for the development community, especially in the area of major projects. Given that success, this bill assists in expediting the process for economic development projects in the State of Delaware with some exemptions from the PLUS process. A project located in Investment Level 1 or 2 under the Strategies for State Policies and Spending that is consistent with local zoning and any local comprehensive plan that will create full-time jobs is exempt from the pre-application process unless required by the local government or requested by the applicant.	House Economic Development	Wednesday 4/5/23	12:00 PM
SB 61	Sturgeon	More flexibility for teacher sick and bereavement leave days Under current law, school employees may only use 3 days of sick leave for personal reasons and may be absent for 5 days after the death of an immediate family member and for 1 day only, on the day of the funeral, after the death of a near relative. This Act makes the following changes to the days that school employees may be absent without loss of pay:	House Education	Wednesday, 4/5/23	3:00 AM
HB 29	Hensely	Increases the Senior Real Property Tax credit to $750 from $400 as authorized in the Appropriations Bill for fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, which effectively amended Title 29, § 6102(q)(3) from $500 to $400. Fiscal note is ~$9million from schools.	House Education	Wednesday, 4/5/23	3:00 PM
SS1/SB1	Townsend	Tenant right to representation substitute	House Housing	Wednesday, 4/5/23	3:30 PM
HB 37	Dorsey Walker	Allows tenants to pay rent into court escrow if a landlord fails to fix dangerous or defective conditions	House Housing	Wednesday, 4/5/23	3:30 PM
SB 66	Buckson	Adds the Senate and House Minority Leaders to the state Public Health Emergency Planning Commission	Senate Health	Wednesday, 4/5/23	10:00 AM
SB 71	Hansen	Requires law-enforcement agencies, the DSCYF, and DOJ to report suspected animal cruelty to the Office of Animal Welfare discovered while performing their responsibilities in child welfare cases. Also provides immunity to people who in good faith, report suspected animal cruelty.	Senate Health	Wednesday, 4/5/23	10:00 AM
HB 81	K. Williams	Makes clear that a school district may deny a request from a charter school to have the school district where the charter school is located transport students residing in that district. If the school district denies the request, the charter school is to receive the payment provided by the State under existing law. Passed House unanimously.	Senate Education	Wednesday, 4/5/23	12:00 AM
HB 53	Griffith	Removes the DE residency requirement for DOJ division heads, assistant heads, and Chief Prosecutors of a particular county. HA1 takes chief prosecutors off the bill.	Senate Judiciary	Wednesday, 4/5/23	2:00 PM
SB 70	Poore	Adds the following acts against a person's companion animal or service animal to the definition of abuse for protection from abuse proceedings: 1. Engaging in cruelty. 2. Inflicting physical injury. 3. Engaging in a course of alarming or distressing conduct. In addition, this Act provides specific authority for the Court to include provisions in a protection from abuse order that grant a petitioner exclusive care, custody, or control of a companion animal and order a petitioner to stay away from the companion animal.	Senate Judiciary	Wednesday, 4/5/23	2:00 PM

New Bills Introduced

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description
HB 110	MInor-Brown	Medicaid coverage for abortion
HB 101	Bush	Directs DelDOT and DNREC to develop a program to allow for the expedited review of entrance plans and stormwater and sediment plans associated with new development. Under this process a consultant pre-approved by DelDOT and/or DNREC would conduct the review and the costs would be paid directly by the developer.
HB 102	Bush	Expedites the issuance of a temporary entrance permit for commercial and economic development projects.
HB 104	Bush	Exempts certain development projects from PLUS pre-application process
HB 96	Morrison	Allows 16 and 17 year olds to vote in school board elections
HB 98	K. Williams	Creates minimum requirements for public notice related to permits and permit renewals issued by DNREC
HB 93	Shupe	Ends municipal voter registration requirements except for nonresident
HB 94	Osienski	Establishes the installation and use of a residential electronic speed monitoring system involving radar, cameras, and a written citation procedure (similar to the one used on I-95 through Wilmington during 2022 construction). The goal seems to be to more effectively enforce speed limits in areas that have been determined to have roads with high-speed motorists. Only cash fines--no license points or notifications to car insurance carriers.
HB 72	Poore	Tax credit for union member dues up to $500
SB 71	Hansen	Requires law-enforcement agencies, DSCYF, and DOJ to report suspected animal cruelty to the Office of Animal Welfare discovered while performing their responsibilities in child welfare cases. Also provides immunity to people who in good faith, report suspected animal cruelty.
SB 70	Poore	Adds the following acts against a person's companion animal or service animal to the definition of abuse for protection from abuse proceedings: 1. Engaging in cruelty. 2. Inflicting physical injury. 3. Engaging in a course of alarming or distressing conduct. In addition, this Act provides specific authority for the Court to include provisions in a protection from abuse order that grant a petitioner exclusive care, custody, or control of a companion animal and order a petitioner to stay away from the companion animal.