Weekly Report: 6/10/24

The legislature is back in session this week, so a lot of bills will be going through between now and when session ends on June 30th. Check below for some of this week’s highlights.

See below for some of the most notable bills in committee this week and how to give public comment. For length and clarity, we are only putting bills that need the most public input below. Bills in green are bills we generally support, bills in red are bills we generally oppose, and bills in yellow are neutral or unknown. 

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	Give Public Comment
SB 273	Buckson	This Act may be cited as “The Consumer Choice Milk Act“. This Act legalizes the sale and distribution of raw milk and products derived from raw milk by dairy producers directly to consumers for human consumption.	House Agriculture Tues 6/11 at 10am	In person: House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HB 445	Wilson-Anton	Ban law enforcement from using reverse keyword court orders. Reverse keyword court orders enable the government to obtain technology search data without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. WHAT IS A REVERSE-KEYWORD COURT ORDER? Reverse-keyword court orders enable the government to precisely identify an unspecified and unlimited number of persons who have sought information about a specific word or phrase, such as entering the term into an internet search engine during a specified time of interest, without identifying any specific person as to which there is probable cause to believe they have committed or will imminently commit a crime. Until further evidence clarifies their guilt or innocence, every person who entered a search term of interest will remain under criminal suspicion. Such general searches allow the government to sweep in personal information about hundreds or thousands of people who are not suspected of having committed any crime. These searches are an invasion of privacy, have a potentially chilling effect on civil liberties, and sidestep requirements for individualized suspicion that are otherwise required for a lawful search. This Act would prohibit law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse keyword requests. It also creates a private right of action for an individual whose personal information was obtained in violation of this Act and requires the suppression of evidence derived from an unlawful or reverse-keyword search.	House Judiciary Wed 6/12 at 10:30 am	In person: House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
SB 12	Townsend	Expands pretrial detention for a number of charges. While the idea of moving from cash bail to risk assessment is good, and it’s good that people will have the right to representation at bail hearings, this bill massively expands the list of offenses innocent people can be held without bail for and preserves cash bail at the court’s discretion.	House Judiciary Wed 6/12 at 10:30 am	In person: House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
SB 313	Townsend	Shifts the balance of power in corporations by making the boards responsive to the desires of a favored few – as opposed to the needs of pension funds or the whole shareholder base. SB 313 was crafted in response to a February 2024 Court of Chancery decision, in the court case West Palm Beach Firefighters Pension Fund v. Moelis, that ruled in favor of the plaintiff pension fund and is currently being appealed before the Delaware Supreme Court.	Senate Judiciary Tues 6/11 at 10am	In person: Senate Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HS2 for HB 110	Minor-Brown	Medicaid coverage for abortion. Requires all health benefit plans delivered or issued for Medicaid to cover services related to termination of pregnancy.	Senate Health Wed 6/12 at 10am	In person: Senate Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HS1 for HB 191	Dorsey Walker	Rent escrow. Allows a tenant recourse if a landlord fails to fix dangerous or defective housing conditions, including termination of lease and paying rent into court escrow.	Senate Housing Wed 6/12 at 1pm	In person: Senate Hearing Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HB 140	Baumbach	End of life options. Permits a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end the individual's life in a humane and dignified manner if both the individual's attending physician or attending advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and a consulting physician or consulting APRN agree on the individual's diagnosis and prognosis and believe the individual has decision-making capacity, is making an informed decision, and is acting voluntarily. While this is certainly an option everyone should have, there has been some concern from disability advocates that these laws have led to people with disabilities and from marginalized groups to be disproportionately encouraged to use this option.	Senate Executive Wed 6/12 at 2:30pm	In person: Senate Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HB 400	Bolden	Moves the date of primary elections for statewide office, county office, and municipal office to the fourth Tuesday in April, which is the date of the presidential primary (in presidential election years).	House Administration Wed 6/12 at 12pm	In person: House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HB 43	M. Smith	Open primaries. Allows Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party to vote in a political party's primary election. Currently there are approximately 170,000 registered Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party. Members of a political party are not allowed to crossover and vote in another political party's primary election.	House Administration Wed 6/12 at 12pm	In person: House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting

Knock Doors for Monica

This upcoming week, we are going to have another canvass for a great candidate:

• Canvass for Monica Shockley-Porter - Saturday, June 15th at 2pm - Monica is running against incumbent Bill Bush for the 29th Representative District in Smyrna

If you want to see other canvasses that we have coming up, you can check out our Mobilize.