Year Honored: 2017
Biography
Debra Heffernan is an advocate dedicated to fighting for the rights of everyone. Since her 2010 election to the House of Representatives from Delaware’s 6th District, she has sponsored key legislation on public safety, the environment, education, women’s rights, and citizens with disabilities. Her work has strengthened laws that protect children and young adults from predators and improved rules to prevent childhood concussions.
Having earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Delaware and a master’s degree in environmental toxicology from Duke University, Debra Heffernan worked as an environmental toxicologist for more than 25 years prior to her career in public office.
Before she ran for the House of Representatives, she served for five years on the Brandywine School Board, two of those years as president. During her tenure, the district reduced administrative costs, increased its graduation rate, and included more students with special needs into regular classrooms. Rep. Heffernan also co-founded the Brandywine Special Needs PTA.
Rep. Heffernan’s career in the Delaware General Assembly has furthered her commitment to education and people with disabilities. She was the prime sponsor of Delaware’s Employment First Act, which promoted employment opportunities for people with disabilities requiring state agencies to consider employment as their first option and established the Employment First Oversight Commission to monitor goals and objectives. She championed legislation that requires the use of People First Language, changing official state terms to emphasize that an individual is not defined by his or her disability. She was prime sponsor of a bill that protects the right to privacy for employees’ health and reproductive care decisions, and she introduced a bipartisan resolution mandating the Department of Justice oversee an audit of all untested and non-submitted sexual assault kits.
Rep. Heffernan sponsored a law that enables school districts to extend job offers earlier in the year, making Delaware more competitive with surrounding states. She also improved the SEED program, which provides tuition-free two-year college degrees, and sponsored legislation that gives first-time juvenile offenders a second chance by providing law enforcement with alternatives to arrest.
Rep. Heffernan chairs the House Natural Resource Committee and the House Health and Human Development Committee. She is a member of the Joint Finance Committee and the House committees on education, appropriations, energy, and veterans’ affairs. She also serves on the state’s Hazardous Substance Advisory committee, which oversees environmental cleanup projects and protects residents from pollutants while keeping the state sustainable and economically viable.
Her awards include the ServiSource Founder’s Award for advocating on behalf of employment opportunities for people with disabilities (2016); the DE Disabilities Council Legislator of the Year Award (2012); and Outstanding Mom Advocate for Education by Parenting Magazine. She represented Delaware at the inaugural Mom Congress in Washington D.C. and was recognized by the American Heart Association with the Heart Hero Award. Rep. Heffernan’s awards and accolades are testament to her dedication and passion for helping others and to the tremendous impact she has had on issues that affect all Delawareans.
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Sources and Additional Readings
Legislature, D. (n.d.). Delaware General Assembly. Representative Debra Heffernan (D) - Delaware General Assembly. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from https://legis.delaware.gov/AssemblyMember/150/Heffernan.
