Daily Report for 5/20/2026

Governor's Actions

No legislation is Signed by Governor Today

New Legislation Introduced

BillCurrent StatusSponsorSynopsisTitle
SCR 194PassedWalshThis Concurrent Resolution recognizes the month of June 2026 as Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month in the State of Delaware.RECOGNIZING THE MONTH OF JUNE 2026 AS MYASTHENIA GRAVIS AWARENESS MONTH IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.
SCR 195PassedWilsonThis Senate Concurrent Resolution recognizes September 2026 as "Prostate Cancer Awareness Month" in the State of Delaware.RECOGNIZING SEPTEMBER 2026 AS "PROSTATE CANCER AWARENESS MONTH" IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.
SCR 197PassedPinkneyThis Concurrent Resolution recognizes May 20, 2026, as Public Health Advocacy Day in the State of Delaware. RECOGNIZING MAY 20, 2026, AS PUBLIC HEALTH ADVOCACY DAY IN THE STATE OF DELAWARE.
SS 2 for SB 269CommitteeSturgeonEarly access to language is essential to child development. Children identified as Deaf or hard of hearing rely on hearing aids for language development. Language development leads to success in school. Medicaid coverage of hearing aids for children younger than 21 years old applies only to children who qualify for Medicaid. Delaware currently requires private insurers to provide minimum coverage of $1,000 for each hearing aid for individuals younger than 24 years old, covered as a dependent by the policyholder. The cost of hearing aids can vary widely but can cost from $3,000 to $5,000 out-of-pocket. This can be too expensive for families, even with the current $1,000 coverage requirement. The cost of a cochlear implant can range from $30,000 to $100,000, depending on the necessary device, surgery, and rehabilitation. Delaware does not currently require insurers to cover the costs of cochlear implants. This Act is a second substitute for Senate Bill No. 269 and differs from the first substitute Senate Bill No. 269 by changing the cost-sharing limitation to require insurers to cover at least 95%, instead 100%, of the cost of benefits for hearing aid and earmold benefits provided under § 3357(b)(1)a., § 3571A(b)(1)a., and § 5224(b)(1)a. of this Act. Like the first substitute to Senate Bill No. 269, this Act differs from Senate Bill No. 269 in all of the following ways: 1) Includes external sound processors in the definition of a cochlear implant. 2) Clarifies that, for group and blanket health policies and the state employee health plan, the required coverage of hearing-aid related parts and services is limited to individuals younger than 26 years old and covered as a dependent by the policyholder. 3) Names this Act in honor of T. Hollis Jennings who is a testament to the success of state-mandated hearing aid coverage and early intervention. Hollis got hearing aids when she was an infant. Her language developed typically, with no need for speech therapy. She now exceeds grade-level benchmarks in math and ELA. She’s also a phenomenal singer. 4) Makes technical changes to strike through and underline format to make it easier to see changes and to correct grammar. Like Senate Bill No. 269 and the first substitute for Senate Bill No. 269, this Act requires individual health insurance policies under Chapter 33 of Title 18, group and blanket health insurance policies under Chapter 35 of Title 18, and the state employee health plan under Chapter 52 of Title 29 to cover all of the following: 1) At least 1 hearing aid for each ear at least every 3 years, or before the expiration of the 3-year period if a health care professional determines that a new hearing aid is medically necessary. For hearing aids with earmolds, insurers are required to cover at least 1 earmold for each ear at least annually, or sooner if new earmolds are medically necessary. The cost-sharing limitation applies only to coverage of hearing aids. The types of hearing aid covered includes a hearing aid with an earmold, a hearing aid with slim tubing, a receiver-in-ear hearing aid, a bone-anchored hearing aid, and a cochlear implant. 2) Medically necessary hearing aid-related parts, attachments, or accessories. 3) Medically necessary related services related to prescribing, fitting, implanting, or dispensing hearing aids. Coverage must include medically necessary related services provided by a hearing care professional who specializes in providing care to pediatric patients. For individual health insurance policies, the coverage required under this Act applies to all covered individuals, regardless of age, because federal law prohibits states from limiting coverage for an essential health benefit based on an individual’s age unless there is a clinical reason. For group and blanket health insurance policies and the state employee health plan, the required coverage applies only to individuals younger than 26 years old and covered as a dependent by the policyholder. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual and reorganizes paragraphs for clarity. This Act applies to all policies, contracts, or certificates issued, renewed, modified, altered, amended, or reissued after December 31, 2027.AN ACT AMEND TITLE 18 AND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HEARING AID COVERAGE.
HB 432CommitteeBerryThis Act establishes a Delaware Healthcare Apprenticeship Degree Program to be developed by the Department of Labor in partnership with the Department of Eduation. The Departments will work together to create a program that places aspiring healthcare professionals in paid positions in healthcare facilities, while the prospective healthcare applicants complete the training and schooling necessary to become a credentialed healthcare professional. This program will complement the Educator Program to create a low-cost pathway for aspiring healthcare applicants to earn their credits and gain training. Additionally, this Act directs the Department of Labor to engage with Delaware Health and Social Services and Delaware Human Resources to develop future apprenticeship programs to meet the needs of workforces across the State. This Act also provides that the Department of Labor is to consult with stakeholders to make recommendations for other degreed apprenticeship programs beyond healthcare and that the Department must prepare a report of its findings and submit it to the Governor, General Assembly, and the Division of Legislative Services by May 1, 2027. AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DELAWARE APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS.
SA 1 to SB 296PassedPooreThis amendment allows the Secretary of the Department of Health and Social Services to identify an individual to serve as the Secretary’s designee on the Delaware Health Fund Advisory Committee. This amendment also makes an exception for the upcoming fiscal year, July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, for the Division of Public Health to issue requests for proposals to private organizations for programs and services consistent with the purposes set forth in § 137(d) of the Public Health Fund, to allow sufficient time to prepare the requests for proposals. 

Legislation Passed By Senate

BillCurrent StatusSponsorSynopsisTitle
HB 290SignedOrtegaThis Act designates "Puerto Rico Day" as a ceremonial day to be commemorated annually on June 11 in Delaware.AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 1 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUERTO RICO DAY.
HB 312SignedK. WilliamsThis Act amends the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act to update the statutory definition of confirmatory blood lead testing for children under 16 years of age. The Act allows a confirmed elevated blood lead level to be established either through a venous blood lead test or through two capillary blood lead screenings collected within 12 weeks of each other, provided that the applicable lead reference value is met or exceeded. Two positive capillary blood lead screenings yield an effective specificity of approximately 99.75% when properly collected. This change is consistent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance case definition, reduces barriers to case identification and management, and requires conforming regulatory updates. AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO LEAD TESTING.
SB 264PassedBrownThis Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to hold a special election when there is a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor, unless that vacancy occurs between July 1 of the year in which the Lieutenant Governor is chosen and the date the Lieutenant Governor’s term begins. This Act is modeled after the process of holding a special election for a vacancy for a member of the General Assembly. As with special elections for the General Assembly, the details of the special election process for the Lieutenant Governor will be made part of Title 15 by separate legislation introduced along with the second leg of this constitutional amendment in the 154th General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.AN ACT PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE III OF THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION RELATING TO FILLING A VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
HB 333SignedMorrisonThis Act changes the probate dollar limit for administering a small estate without requiring Letters of Administration or Letters of Testamentary from $30,000 to $50,000. This Act also makes changes to conform with the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 12 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO DISTRIBUTION OF DECEDENT'S PROPERTY WITHOUT GRANT OF LETTERS OF ADMINISTRATION.
SB 291SignedPinkneyIn 2013, Congress enacted the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013, 34 U.S.C. § 60105, which requires states to report to the U.S. Department of Justice the deaths of individuals who die in the custody of law enforcement. Failure to comply may result in the reduction of certain federal grant funds. In 2024, the Criminal Justice Council, which is responsible for ensuring Delaware's participation in the data collection required by the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013, arranged for the Statistical Analysis Center to serve as the Criminal Justice Center's agent to coordinate and manage the logistics of this data collection. The Criminal Justice Council and Statistical Analysis Center issued guidance to law enforcement on the requirements of the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013 and the process and procedures to be used to comply with these reporting requirements. This Act codifies the process and procedures established by the Criminal Justice Council and Statistical Analysis Center related to the reporting required by the Death in Custody Reporting Act of 2013. In addition, this Act requires compliance reporting and provides that a law-enforcement agency that fails to comply with this Act is ineligible for certain funding until the agency complies with this Act.AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO REPORTING AND REVIEW OF DEATHS OF INDIVIDUALS IN CUSTODY OF LAW ENFORCEMENT.
SB 297SignedHansenThis Act adds a clarifying interpretive paragraph to the Delaware Consumer Fraud Act (Subchapter II, Chapter 25, Title 6 of the Code) to address a recent decision by the Delaware Supreme Court and to make clear that the Consumer Fraud Act’s use of the phrase “in connection with” in § 2513 should be interpreted to include unfair and deceptive acts and practices that occur “before, during, and after” the sale, lease, receipt, or advertisement of any merchandise. The Delaware Supreme Court recently construed the Consumer Fraud Act to be confined to conduct “between businesses and consumers which happen before a transaction or during the transaction itself.” Blue Beach Bungalows DE, LLC v. State, No. 14, 2025, 2025 WL 3768232, at *11 (Del. Dec. 30, 2025). However, in recognition of the broad purpose of the Consumer Fraud Act set forth by the 123rd General Assembly in Section 2512, subsequent amendments to the Consumer Fraud Act to include the “receipt” of merchandise, and the scope of comparable statutes in other states, this bill ensures that the Consumer Fraud Act is interpreted to apply to unfair or deceptive conduct that occurs after a sale, lease, receipt, or advertisement, including, but not limited to, conduct occurring in instances in which a sale, lease, receipt, or advertisement creates an ongoing relationship or a continuing obligation, or where performance has not yet been completed. This aligns the Consumer Fraud Act with Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices (“UDAP”) laws with similar language in other states, as well as many other UDAP laws, including the FTC Act, that cover post-transaction conduct. This Act will allow the Delaware Department of Justice to use the Consumer Fraud Act to address the full range of unfair and deceptive acts or practices that consumers report to the Delaware Department of Justice, including, for example, false and threatening landlord communications, unscrupulous debt collection tactics, and failures to honor promises to fix returned merchandise. It will also ensure that businesses throughout the state can compete on a level playing field throughout the duration of their relationships with consumers, without being undercut by unscrupulous competitors who engage in post-transaction misconduct. Additionally, it ensures that the Delaware Department of Justice is not disadvantaged when coordinating with other states to hold entities accountable for unfair or deceptive acts or practices that are nationwide in scope. AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CONSUMER PROTECTION.
SB 301SignedPinkneyThis Act requires that a hospital create a discharge plan if a pregnant patient who is experiencing signs or symptoms consistent with labor is discharged before delivery. This requirement to create a discharge plan applies to patients discharged from either in-patient treatment or observation status and must contain all of the following: 1. Aftercare instructions and guidelines and that these instructions and guidelines were explained to the patient, patient’s agent, or patient’s lay caregiver. 2. An assessment of travel distance and time between the primary residence of the patient and the hospital. 3. Verification of reliable transportation between the primary residence of the patient and the hospital. 4. Identification of a back-up hospital or facility at which the patient may obtain labor and delivery services. This Act is modeled on the Women Expansion of Learning and Labor Safety or WELLS Act, H.R. 7830, which was introduced in Congress on March 5, 2026. The WELLS Act is named after Mercedes Wells, a Black woman who was forced to give birth on the side of the road minutes after being discharged from a hospital while in active labor. Under existing law, Chapter 30J of Title 16 provides discharge planning requirements when a patient is being discharged home after admission to a hospital. The requirements under this Act are in addition to, but can be combined with, these existing discharge planning requirements if the patient being discharged is pregnant and experiencing signs or symptoms consistent with labor. This Act also renames and reorganizes Chapter 30J of Title 16 by making existing law Subchapter I and creating a new Subchapter II with the requirements under this Act. As such, this Act makes corresponding changes to existing law to change references to Chapter 30J to the new subchapter.AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 16 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO HOSPITAL DISCHARGE PLANS FOR PREGNANT PATIENTS.
SB 305SignedParadeeThis bill creates a special license plate for Delaware State University to support student access, academic excellence, and university programs that advance the institution’s mission.AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 21 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SPECIAL LICENSE PLATES.
SB 310 w/ SA 1SignedHuxtableThis Act creates a Disaster Recovery Fund (the "Fund") to provide disaster recovery assistance to Delaware residents and local governments affected by disasters. The Fund is intended to provide means for program creation following an extreme event with regard to short-term recovery needs, the provision of interim housing assistance, support for the repair, restoration, reconstruction, or replacement of occupied damaged or destroyed homes, assistance in addressing gaps in insurance coverage, prioritization of health and safety issues to ensure that housing remains habitable, and support for long-term recovery initiatives. The Fund will be administered in accordance with guidelines set by the Recovery Advisory Council, or "RAC," which is established by the Act. The Fund will consist of any appropriations, grants, gifts, contributions, or revenues received by the Fund from any source. It will be divided into at least 2 components, including: (1) the DEMA Recovery and Resilience Program, which previously existed as Executive Order #44, or the Delaware Resilience Fund, and which will receive funding to focus on recovery initiatives, and (2) the DSHA Housing Recovery Program, which will receive funding to address housing recovery needs. The RAC shall establish prescribed impetuses that trigger the use of funds for mitigation and preparedness projects, including establishing a dollar amount threshold for the fund beyond which funds can be spent on mitigation and preparedness, and establishing a minimum time period of at least one year beyond which, if the Fund is not utilized for its primary objectives, funds can be spent on mitigation and preparedness. Eligible uses would include funding for disaster risk reduction, hazard mitigation projects, or community resilience initiatives or use as a "match" for costs associated with federal mitigation or preparedness grant dollars for initiatives in mitigation and preparedness. The RAC will convene biannually, upon activation request, when post-disaster assistance requests exceed the available balance of the Fund, or in accordance with its bylaws. The RAC consists of the Director of the Delaware Emergency Management Agency or designee; the Director of the Delaware State Housing Authority or designee; the State Hazard Mitigation Officer or designee; the Directors of the Emergency Management Agencies for Sussex County, Kent County, and New Castle County or their designees; the Disaster Coordinator of the Department of Health and Social Services or designee; and the following members, appointed by the Governor: representatives from the Delaware League of Local Government and the Delaware Community Foundation; a member of local government from an affected or impacted community; a member with expertise in disability services, independent living, or access and functional needs, and any additional cabinet secretary or subject matter expert. The Fund may be activated when a disaster occurs and affects an amount of housing, residents, or property predetermined within DEMA or DSHA programmatic guidelines, if damage occurs that exceeds the capacity of the affected locality and assistance is requested from the corresponding county, if the support required for recovery exceeds the capacity of the corresponding county and the county makes a request to the Fund's program managers, or if the Governor declares a state of emergency or requests fund activation. AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 20 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE DELAWARE DISASTER RECOVERY FUND.
HCR 134PassedHilovskyThis resolution recognizes the last Monday of May as Memorial Day.RECOGNIZING THE LAST MONDAY OF MAY AS MEMORIAL DAY.
HCR 133PassedJones GiltnerThis Concurrent Resolution recognizes the month of May 2026 as Mental Health Awareness MonthRECOGNIZING THE MONTH OF MAY 2026 AS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH.
SA 1 to SB 310PassedHuxtableThis Amendment adds the Secretary of DNREC, or the Secretary's designee, to the voting membership of the RAC. It also makes a technical correction.  

Legislation Passed By House of Representatives

No Legislation Passed By House

Senate Committee Assignments

Committee
Education
Finance

House Committee Assignments

Committee
Administration
Agriculture
Appropriations
Education
Housing
Technology & Telecommunications

Senate Committee Report

Committee
Agriculture
Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology
Education
Elections & Government Affairs
Environment, Energy & Transportation
Executive
Finance
Health & Social Services
Housing & Land Use
Judiciary
Veterans Affairs

House Committee Report

Committee
Administration
Health & Human Development
Judiciary
Natural Resources & Energy
Revenue & Finance
Transportation

Senate Defeated Legislation

No Senate Defeated Legislation

House Defeated Legislation

No House Defeated Legislation

Nominations Enacted upon by the Senate

NomineeStatusCommission/BoardReappointment
Babowal, Gregory R.ConfirmedCommissioner, Court of Common PleasReappointment
Blount, Danielle S.ConfirmedCommissioner, Family Court Reappointment
Heald, Timothy W.ConfirmedAdult Correction Healthcare Review CommitteeNew
Holmes, Candace E.ConfirmedJudge of the Family Court in and for Kent CountyNew
Powers, William E. ConfirmedMember, Water Infrastructure Advisory CouncilNew