Weekly Report: 3/25/2024

Prepared By: Len Damico

This is the last week of legislative session before Spring recess; the legislature will go back into session on April 16th. There are a good amount of bills to be heard this week, and some good opportunities to make your voice heard.

The Bill of Rights for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness (HS2 for HB 55) will finally get a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday at 11am. The HOMES Campaign has been advocating for these protections for quite a while, and this bill could definitely use as much public support as possible if you are able to comment either in person or virtually. The House Judiciary Committee will also be hearing the annual corporate law update bills on Wednesday.

The new version of last year’s HB 230 (protections for gender-affirming care, also known as the Trans Refuge Bill) will be heard in the House Health Committee Wednesday at 10am. This year’s version (HB 346) simply extends the current legal protections afforded providers of contraceptive and abortion services to providers of gender-affirming health care. In summary, this Act does the following: 

• Cannot discipline medical professionals for providing gender-affirming care, even if such services are illegal or considered to be unprofessional conduct or the unauthorized practice of medicine in another state, so long as such services are lawful in this State; 

• Prohibits health care providers from disclosing communications and records concerning gender-affirming health care without the patient’s authorization in any civil action or proceeding, with some exceptions; 

• Protects health care providers from out-of-state civil actions relating to gender-affirming health care treatment that is legal in Delaware, including the issuance of a summons or the enforcement of subpoenas relating to such cases; 

• Creates a cause of action for recuperation of out-of-state judgments relating to gender-affirming services that are lawful in Delaware; and 

• Prohibits insurance companies from taking any adverse action against health care professionals who provide gender-affirming health care services.

This version differs from the original bill by removing provisions that allows Family Court to determine custody disputes when a child is in the State to receive gender-affirming health care, and the provision of gender-affirming health-care is at issue in the custody dispute. The original bill also prohibited the state from enforcing an out-of-state court order that removes a child from a parent because the parent allows the child to receive gender-affirming health care. The protections for providers outlined in the new version of the bill are good on their merits, but without family court provisions, they fail to offer meaningful "refuge" to individuals.

Several bills from the recently announced housing package will be heard in the Senate Housing Committee Wednesday at 1pm. While these bills seem fine on their merits, some advocates again worry that these incremental steps are a way to “check the box” on the housing crisis without meaningfully addressing the root of the problem.

Make Your Voice Heard

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.

Bills coming up the week of 3/25/24:

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Committee Meeting Info	Give Public Comment
HB 246	Collins, Buckson	Limits the repair waiver expenditure required by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to a uniform statewide amount of $450. This bill sets Delaware’s repair waiver expenditure much lower than many surrounding states and will result in more environmentally unsound vehicles on Delaware roads.	House Natural Resources Tuesday 3/26 at 10:30am	In person:House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HB 346	Neal, Gay	Protections for medical providers providing gender-affirming care. Provides the same legal protections afforded providers of contraceptive and abortion services to providers of gender-affirming health care. The protections outlined in this bill are good on their merits, but without family court provisions, they fail to offer meaningful "refuge" to individuals.	House Health Wednesday 3/27 at 10am	In Person: House Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HS2/HB 55	Phillips, Pinkney	Bill of Rights for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness to ensure that all individuals, regardless of housing status, have equal opportunity to live in decent, safe, sanitary, and healthful accommodations and enjoy equality of opportunities.	House Judiciary Wednesday 3/27 at 11am	In person: House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HB 318	Baumbach, Sokola	Increases the exemption in bankruptcy and other debt proceedings for a debtor’s personal residence from $125,000 to $200,000. The exemption has been limited to $125,000 since 2012 while home prices have increased dramatically in the intervening years. It also increases the exemption for tools of the trade and for a vehicle to $25,000 from $15,000. This Act also exempts worker’s compensation awards under the laws of other states from attachment in bankruptcy or other proceedings in the same manner that a worker’s compensation award made under Delaware law is exempt.	House Judiciary Wednesday 3/27 at 11am	In person: House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HS1/HB 350	Longhurst/TTownsend	Hospital spending benchmarks. Creates the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board, which will be responsible for review and approval of annual hospital budgets beginning with budgets for calendar year 2026. Hospital budgets established under this process are required to adhere as closely to the spending benchmark as is reasonable given the hospital’s financial position and associated economic factors, promote efficient and economic operations of the hospital, and maintain the hospital’s ability to meet its financial obligations. As a temporary measure until the Board begins operations, hospitals are required to charge no more than 250% of Medicare costs to any payer for hospital services in calendar year 2025.	House Administration Wednesday 3/27 at 12pm	In person: House Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for meeting
HB 343	Yearick, Buckson	Reduces the State's rate of realty transfer tax by .25% per year for 4 years, for residential property conveyances having a property value less than $500,000, and for commercial property convenances having a property value less than $1,000,000, starting January 1, 2025. After January 1, 2028, the State's realty transfer tax rate will be the same rate as it was prior to August 1, 2017 for these conveyances. If passed, this bill is estimated to drain millions from Delaware’s General Fund over its duration.	House Revenue & Finance Wednesday 3/27 at 3:00pm	In Person: House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Virtual: Register for Meeting

Issue Campaign Next Steps

Just because some of our core priorities aren’t in committee this week doesn’t mean that there aren’t things you can do to help get them passed. Right now, we have one bill that is sitting in committee, and another core issue that hasn’t had a bill introduced yet to address it.

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Call For An Appropriations Hearing - Universal Free School Lunch (HB 125) passed the House Education Committee in early March. The next step is the House Appropriations Committee. However, the Chair decides when a committee gets scheduled and what goes on the agenda. We’re asking people to send personalized emails to make sure it gets a hearing.

• Attend “The Rent Is Too Damn High” Event - No matter what neighborhood we live in, or what we look like, we all deserve a quality home. But years of increasing rents have displaced our loved ones and disrupted our communities. We can pass rent regulation policies to keep people in their homes and restore our vibrant state. Attend this event to learn more and take action.