A new bill would dispel the fears of potential repercussions for medics providing in vitro fertilization, commonly known as IVF, which takes mature eggs from ovaries and fertilizes them with sperm in a lab. About 90,000 babies are conceived through this process each year in the U.S. House Bill 374, sponsored by Rep. Kendra Johnson, D-Bear, would legally protect medical …
A state committee created to evaluate and make recommendations to improve the environment of schools had its third meeting Monday night in which it learned that there were more than 30,000 behavioral infractions to middle and high school students in 2022. Although that number dropped in 2023, it was still north of 11,000 for high schoolers and nearly 14,000 for …
State hospitals and legislators have reached a deal that will see House Bill 350, a bill to set up a state board that could review and force changes to hospital budgets, become law. Based on expected amendments, “the Delaware Healthcare Association stands neutral on HB 350 and will no longer actively oppose the bill at this time,” said Brian Frazee, …
A controversial bill that will establish a board to review and change hospital budgets is headed to the Senate floor after a lively committee hearing. There were some surprises and revelation of a compromise in the Senate Executive Committee Tuesday evening. Surprise one: Dr. Kara Odom Walker, who was secretary of the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services when …
On the day Gov. John Carney preached the impact of working together in his State of the State address, the Senate watched a tense interaction divided by party lines that one legislator called “childish behavior.” The interaction between Sen. Eric Buckson, R-Dover, and Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark/Glasgow, and their similar education task force resolutions were enough to cause comment from …
A bill that would increase the prevailing wage for contractors making products offsite is unlikely to be heard in the House after the legislature passed the 2024 fiscal year’s budget on Wednesday. Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 102, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, would require laborers making products away from a building site to be paid …
On Tuesday, the Senate passed with five bills that relate to the environment, with Republicans offering some resistance, and a budget that had less opposition. House Bill 99, sponsored by Rep. Debra Heffernan, D-Brandywine Hundred South, would require that Delaware meet certain emission reduction requirements, getting to zero net emissions by 2050, and create climate change officers within all nine …
The Senate Housing & Land Use committee on Wednesday heard from dozens of people supporting a bill to provide tenants who lose their leases the right to a lawyer to help. Senate Bill 1, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, would set up a system for tenants below 200% of the federal poverty line a right to an …
Case workers for the Division of Family Services could soon be getting a reduced workload. The Delaware Senate voted Tuesday to approve a recommendation made by the Child Protection Accountability Commission to drop the number of families that case workers follow from 18 to 12. Senate Bill 33, sponsored by Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, D-Arden, would act on the commission’s …
Despite vehement opposition from a state retirees’ group, a bill that would add retirees to committees that help determine health care options overwhelmingly passed the Senate Wednesday, just moments after it had cleared a committee hearing. Voting against it were three Republican senators. Senate Bill 29, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, would give retirees a voice by …
