The cost of providing electric vehicle charging stations up and down Delaware popped up in a Joint Capital Improvement Committee meeting this week. Sen. Nicole Poore, D-Delaware City, asked if the Department of Transportation is considering the cost of adding more electric vehicle charging stations across the state and transitioning school districts to more electric vehicles. āEverybody wants to move …
Republican bill would allow bail denial for firearm offenses
A Republican representative plans to file a bill that would allow bail to be denied to anyone who is carrying a firearm when arrested for committing a felony. Delawareās Constitution allows people charged with capital offenses to be held without bail when āproof is positive or the presumption great,ā which the bill would expand to include people charged with the …
Bill changing state voting rules seems headed to Senate floor
A bill that would ditch a constitutional requirement that people must live in Delaware for a year before voting, officially change the voting age to 18, remove the literacy requirement for voting and make it easier for ex-felons to vote seems headed to the full Senate. Senate Bill 180, sponsored by Sen. Kyle Gay, D-Elsmere, would do all that. Because …
State benefits committee OKs rate hike for retiree insuranceĀ
The State Employee Benefits Committee unanimously approved raising the rate retirees pay for their Special Medicfill insurance plan.Ā The committee in May voted to raise Medicfill rates by 5% starting Jan. 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024. On Tuesday, though, the vote was to approve a specific dollar increase. The increased rates will lead to no change for those who …
3 bills addressing child abuse issues pass House
Three bills that change Delaware law as it relates to child abuse passed the House, with some sparking more contention than others. House Bill 182, sponsored by Rep. Krista Griffith, D-Fairfax, would change child abuse in the third, second and first degree to child abuse in the fourth, third and second degree respectively; and changes the new third degree child …
Bill to curb aggressive medical debt collection goes to House
A bill that seeks to stop aggressive tactics for collecting medical debt easily passed the House Economic Development/Banking/Insurance & Commerce Committee meeting Tuesday. Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill 8, sponsored by Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos, D-Elsmere, would forbid a medical creditor or medical debt collector from arresting someone, forcing someone into court for being in contempt, foreclosing on someoneās property …
4 bills awaiting their fate in legislature as session end nears
Several bills that have been making their way through the legislature are still in limbo despite being passed by committees and either the Delaware Senate or House of Representatives earlier in the session. House Bill 80, sponsored by Rep. Melissa Minor-Brown, D-New Castle, would require doula services to be covered by Medicaid starting Jan. 1, 2024. A doula provides support …
Gender-affirming bill draws GOP criticism; action postponed
A bill introduced Thursday adding protections for gender-affirming care in Delaware has drawn criticism from Republicans for the impact it would have on parental rights. House Bill 230, sponsored by Rep. Deshanna Neal, D-Elsmere, would protect medical providers in Delaware who provide gender-affirming care from being prosecuted by other states that ban the practice. Neal said in a statement Friday …
Spiegelman talks Nazis in opposing LGBTQ panic defense bill
A bill that would ban the use of the LGBTQ panic defense in Delaware courts passed the state House Thursday,Ā but not before one representative brought up Jews and Nazi Germany. House Substitute 2 for House Bill 142, sponsored by Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow, would not permit a defendant to claim they reacted violently when they realized that someone else …
Bill to reduce mobile home rent seems headed to House
A bill that would lower rent for people living in manufactured housing communities seems headed to the House floor. House Bill 212, sponsored by House Majority Leader Rep. Valerie Longhurst, D-Bear, would prohibit manufactured home community owners from increasing rent by more than 5% each year and require community owners to submit annually to the The Delaware Manufactured Home Relocation …