| HB 370 | Committee | Shupe | This Act requires the seller of an interest in residential real property to provide the following to a buyer of the property before closing on the sale of the property:
(1) For residential real property that is supplied with potable water by a private well located on the property, a report on the results of testing of the water supplied by the private well that is conducted within 3 months of the signing of a form documenting compliance with the water testing requirements of this Act.
(2) For residential real property that is supplied with potable water from a public water system, the results of testing of the water supplied by the public water system performed by the public water supplier that is conducted within 1 year of the signing of a form documenting compliance with the water testing requirements of this Act.
| AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE BUYER PROPERTY PROTECTION ACT. |
| HB 369 | Committee | Gray | This Act amends Chapter 28 of Title 24 of the Delaware Code to define "successor professional engineer" as a professional engineer who assumes responsible charge of a project, or component of a project, and uses or relies upon the work of the professional engineer who was previously in responsible charge and sealed pertinent documents. The new Section 2832 delineates the acceptable parameters for a successor professional engineer's use or reliance upon work performed by the previous professional engineer in responsible charge. These revisions will both inform licensees of the permissible use of another professional engineer's work and ensure that the recipient of services can identify the responsible professional engineer. The Council for the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers solicited feedback from and held committee meetings with various stakeholders who contributed to drafting of this Act. The Council approved this Act. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 24 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS. |
| SS 1 for SB 132 | Committee | S. McBride | Over the past decade, an increasing number of states have passed legislation establishing a Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights. At least 18 states have passed such legislation. Of these 18 states, 12 states have a Student Loan Ombudsperson and 13 have a licensing program, with another two states having a registration program instead of a licensing program.
This Act is a Substitute for Senate Bill No. 132. Like Senate Bill No. 132, this Act enacts a Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights for this State that does all of the following:
(1) Requires student loan servicers to engage in certain practices related to communications with student loan borrowers and cosigners of student education loans and handling of transactions by student loan borrowers and cosigners of student education loans.
(2) Prohibits student loan servicers from engaging in certain practices including unfair or deceptive practices or abusive practices.
(3) Requires student loan servicers to retain records related to student loan transactions for 7 years and to yearly report non-identifying information about student education loans serviced in this State, including default and delinquency rates, to the Student Loan Ombudsperson.
(4) Establishes the Office of the Student Loan Ombudsperson which shall, among other duties, receive, investigate, and attempt to resolve complaints from student loan borrowers.
This Act differs from Senate Bill No. 132 as follows:
(1) Makes a technical correction to correct an incorrect internal reference.
(2) Excludes the State government from the definition of “student loan servicer”.
(3) Makes clear the intent to exclude certain types of student loan servicers from the scope of this Act, as these student loan servicers are already regulated by state and federal regulators.
(4) Removes an unnecessary “that”.
(5) Adds “if applicable” to make clear the student loan servicer’s obligation to provide cosigner information applies only if applicable.
(6) Moves from § 2504J of this Act certain requirements of student loan servicers related to cosigners and cosigner release to a new § 2511J of this Act containing protections related to cosigners and borrowers.
(7) Specifies that a student loan servicer is only required to provide a written payment history to a student loan borrower or cosigner once each year.
(8) Requires a student loan servicer to service a student education loan in conformity with § 2511J of this Act and to file a notice with the Student Loan Ombudsperson every 3 years, or on servicing the student loan servicer’s first student education loan in this State, that includes an address, email address, and phone number for the student loan servicer and an attestation that the student loan servicer understands the student loan servicer’s duties under this Act.
(9) Clarifies that the Student Loan Ombudsperson (“Ombudsperson”) has certain powers, not that the Ombudsperson is required to exercise those powers in all cases.
(10) Clarifies that the Consumer Protection Unit of the Department of Justice and other appropriate agencies are to have access to information available to the Ombudsperson to the extent necessary for investigation purposes.
(11) Permits the Ombudsperson to meet regularly with a member of the Consumer Protection Unit to coordinate efforts.
(12) Permits the Student Loan Ombudsperson to access, receive, and use any documents, information, or evidence the Ombudsperson deems relevant to the inquiry or investigation, including any documents, information, or evidence in the possession of a student loan servicer.
(13) Replaces language related to whom the Student Loan Ombudsperson’s annual report is due with standard report language developed for the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and adds the Attorney General as a recipient of the report.
(14) Delays the effective date of the Act until January 1, 2025. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE STUDENT LOAN BORROWER BILL OF RIGHTS ACT. |
| HB 362 | Committee | Minor-Brown | In 2023, the General Assembly passed House Bill 80, which required the coverage of doula services under the State’s Medicaid plan beginning in 2024. This Act would require similar coverage under private health insurance plans. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COVERAGE FOR DOULA SERVICES. |
| HS 1 for HB 302 | Out of Committee | Bolden | According to the American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the second-leading cause of death from cancer in men. It is estimated that about 1 in 41 men will die of prostate cancer. According to ZERO Prostate Cancer, Black men face serious health care disparities regarding prostate cancer. 1 in 6 Black men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime compared to 1 in 8 men overall. Black men are also 1.7 times more likely to be diagnosed with, and 2.1 times more likely to die from, prostate cancer than white men.
HB 302 requires all group, blanket, and individual health insurance policies to cover prostate screening for men at risk of prostate cancer. This Substitute bill broadens the definition of “prostate screening” to include any medically necessary and clinically appropriate method for the detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer, including a digital rectal exam and prostate specific antigen test, and associated laboratory work. This Substitute bill also clarifies the ages at which prostate screenings must be covered, consistent with the American Cancer Society guidelines, as follows: (1) Age 50 for men at average risk of developing prostate cancer; (2) Age 45 for men at high risk of developing prostate cancer, including African American men and men who have a first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer; and (3) Age 40 for men at even higher risk for prostate cancer, including men who have more than one first degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer.
This Substitute bill also extends the effective date to health insurance policies modified after December 31, 2025, and makes technical corrections. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 18 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING. |
| HB 365 | Committee | Cooke | This Act is enabling legislation that establishes the framework and requirements for a competitive mobile sports wagering market in Delaware under the authority of the Lottery Director. Sports wagering is now legal in 38 states, and 29 states have legalized mobile sports wagering using computers or other Internet-connected devices, including the neighboring states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Pursuant to this Act, the Lottery Director is authorized and directed to commence the Internet sports lottery by administering a solicitation and request for applications process to license qualified operators that have entered into a market access agreement with one of Delaware’s existing video lottery agents. Each video lottery agent is authorized to partner with a maximum of two prospective Internet sports lottery operators, and certain minimum requirements for applicants are established in the legislation as part of the criteria the Lottery Director will develop to evaluate proposals from applicants. The Lottery Director may disqualify applicants that fail to provide required information. Further, the Director is not required to license applicants that are deemed not to be qualified.
Licensed Internet sports lottery operators are required to pay a $500,000 fee for an initial 5-year license to offer Internet sports lottery games in Delaware, and operators must return proceeds from their operations at a rate of 18% of the operator’s monthly adjusted gross sports lottery receipts. Licensed operators will also contribute 1.5% of their monthly adjusted gross sports lottery receipts to purses for allocation under the direction of the Delaware Thoroughbred Racing Commission or the Delaware Harness Racing Commission, as applicable. Licensed Internet sports lottery operators must also contribute additional purses to cover any deficit in the event total purse revenues in any fiscal year from all sports lottery and Internet sports lottery operations are less than the total purses paid in the last 12 months prior to the start of the Internet sports lottery.
Licensing fees collected from operators are allocated to the General Fund. Proceeds returned to the State by Internet sports lottery are allocated first to the Lottery Office’s costs and administrative expenses. Thereafter, $400,000 or 3.5% of the proceeds returned to the State, whichever is greater, is allocated to DSAMH for programs for the treatment, education, and assistance of compulsive gamblers and problem gambling. The balance of the proceeds remaining are allocated to the State Lottery Fund for the benefit of the State.
The Act provides the Lottery Director with authority to regulate and provide for the security and effective administration of the Internet sports lottery. Minimum duties of licensed Internet sport lottery operators are established in the Act, including, among other requirements: (i) employing a monitoring system to identify betting irregularities; (ii) reporting suspicious activity to the Director; (iii) maintaining sufficient cash balances and daily records of receipts; and (iv) keeping current in all payments and obligations to the Director. Violations are subject to enforcement under existing statutory provisions.
The Act directs the Lottery Director to implement the Internet sports lottery as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than 150 days after enactment. The Lottery Director is authorized to issue conditional or probationary licenses during initial implementation of the Internet sports lottery and may issue emergency regulations to the extent necessary to implement the Act. Final regulations for the Internet sports lottery are to be promulgated within 1 year after enactment. Finally, Section 8 of the Act provides that the Act’s provisions do not apply to any vendor awarded a contract by the Lottery Office to provide an online casino and sports gaming platform for Delaware’s three licensed video lottery agents pursuant to that certain Request for Proposal issued by the Lottery Office on January 12, 2023, entitled “Internet Wagering System and Services Solution [FIN23001-IWSSS]” or any renewal or successor contract thereto.
This Act expands the definition of “Sports lottery” to include amateur and electronic sporting events.
This Act requires a 3/5 vote because it creates a fee. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE LOTTERY. |
| SB 262 | Committee | Pettyjohn | This Act permits trucks having 5 or more axles that are hauling farm produce grown in this State and traveling from the farm on which the farm produce is grown to a location at which the farm produce is to be processed or stored, or from a location at which the farm produce is processed or stored to an export facility within this State, to weigh up to 90,000 pounds or combined manufacturer’s gross combined weight rating (GCWR), whichever is less, before a penalty is assessed for exceeding weight restrictions.
A truck hauling farm produce is granted this increased weight limit if the truck complies with several conditions aimed at ensuring public safety. Surrounding states have similar increased weight limits for hauling farm produce.
This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF VEHICLES AND LOADS. |
| SB 263 | Committee | Paradee | This Act limits the use of plastic and other beverage container rings, as well as plastic shrink wraps and plastic tops used to connect beverages, by expanding the definitions of “beverage” and “beverage container” and prohibiting beverages from being sold in containers connected to each other with plastic, ring, or ring-like connectors. Juice boxes and other aseptic containers are not defined as beverage containers and are not included in the ban.
By prohibiting the use of rings or plastic connectors to package or connect beverage containers, this Act reduces waste and furthers the State’s sustainability goals. It also supports the use of beverage packaging alternatives, which are already being used widely. This Act also updates the findings of the General Assembly to reflect the importance of aluminum and glass as recyclables and the need for increased rates of reuse, circularity, and recycling of these valuable materials.
This Act takes effect on July 1, 2025.
This Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. | AN ACT AMENDING TITLE 7 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SOLID WASTE RECYCLING. |
| HB 373 | Committee | Bush | This Act amends Chapter 49 of Title 29 to enable the Office of Highway Safety to solicit and receive subscriptions, donations, and other funds from individuals or organizations for the purpose of implementing highway safety programs and projects that support the mission of reducing traffic fatalities and injuries in Delaware. | AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE TO ENABLE THE OFFICE OF HIGHWAY SAFETY TO SOLICIT AND RECEIVE FUNDS TO FURTHER ITS SAFETY MISSION. |
| HA 1 to HS 1 for HB 5 | PWB | Longhurst | This amendment removes the provision allowing the Department of Education to retain 5% of federal reimbursements to defray administrative costs and rephrases the requirement that reimbursements be used for school-based behavioral health programs and services. | |
