HB174, known as the Elizabeth Barnes Act, amends Delaware’s Victims Compensation Assistance Program to create a new chapter for families of suicide victims. It declares a state purpose of helping spouses, children, parents, siblings, and other legal dependents of a person who died by suicide, and it authorizes those family members to apply for assistance through the existing Victims Compensation Assistance Program. Covered benefits include mental health counseling and psychiatric care, funeral and burial expenses, temporary housing, moving costs, suicide scene cleanup, lost wages for caregivers, loss of support, child care, medical and hospital expenses, and other support services the agency deems appropriate.
The bill establishes a dedicated Suicide Assistance Fund to pay for these benefits and for program administration. The fund would be administered separately from other agency funds, could carry balances forward, and would be supported by a new surcharge on telecommunications services. The surcharge is set at $0.12 per month for residential, business, and wireless subscribers, and $0.12 per prepaid wireless retail transaction, with collection and remittance rules assigned to providers, sellers, the Department of Finance, and the Division of Revenue. The bill also requires annual reporting on fund expenditures and program activity, and it makes the new assistance provisions effective January 1 following enactment.
In terms of state law, HB174 expands Title 11 by adding a new Chapter 90A within the victims compensation framework and by creating new definitions, procedures, funding mechanisms, and administrative duties for the Agency. It also cross-references existing victims compensation protections and penalties so that claims under this chapter receive similar treatment to other VCAP claims. The bill would therefore broaden the scope of Delaware’s victim-assistance laws from crime victims to include families affected by suicide, while creating a new revenue stream and administrative structure to support that expansion.
The general sentiment reflected in the bill text is strongly supportive and commemorative. The act is framed as a memorial measure in honor of Elizabeth Barnes and is presented as a compassionate response to the hardships faced by families after a suicide. No committee transcript or vote record was provided, so there is no recorded floor or committee debate to indicate broader legislative sentiment beyond the bill’s supportive framing and bipartisan-looking sponsorship list.
The main point of potential contention is the funding mechanism. The bill imposes a new telecommunications surcharge on residential, business, wireless, and prepaid wireless users, which could draw concern from consumers, providers, and businesses about added costs and administrative burden. Other possible issues include the scope of eligible benefits, the use of a special fund outside the General Fund, and the complexity of collection and remittance rules for carriers and sellers. However, no specific opposition or amendment debate is available in the provided materials.
HB174 would amend Title 11 of the Delaware Code by creating a new Chapter 90A for families of suicide victims within the Victims Compensation Assistance Program. It would authorize a new class of claims, establish the Suicide Assistance Fund, impose telecommunications surcharges to finance the program, require annual reporting, and direct the Department of Finance and Division of Revenue to administer collection and remittance. The bill would also extend existing VCAP procedural protections and penalties to these new claims, thereby expanding the state’s victim-assistance framework to include suicide-related family support.
The bill appears generally favorable and compassionate in tone, with its purpose explicitly tied to supporting grieving families and honoring Elizabeth Barnes. The sponsor list suggests broad support, but no committee transcript or vote data was provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the available record. Based on the text alone, the measure is framed as a humanitarian expansion of existing victim services rather than a controversial policy change.
The most likely area of contention is the new surcharge on telecommunications services, including whether it is an appropriate funding source and whether it places a burden on subscribers, carriers, and prepaid wireless sellers. Additional concerns could include the administrative complexity of collecting the surcharge, the special-fund structure, and the breadth of benefits available under the new chapter. No specific objections, amendments, or recorded votes were provided, so these are inferred policy issues rather than documented disputes.