4/20/26 Legislative Update

The legislature is back this week, and will be considering a number of important pieces of legislation ranging from housing to law enforcement to higher taxes on tobacco.

One of our biggest focuses this week will be HB 135, introduced by WFP Champion Sophie Phillips. The Dr. DeBorah Gilbert White Act responds to recent Supreme Court decisions which further criminalized homelessness by pushing back on criminalization efforts in Delaware. Right now, homelessness is at its highest levels ever in Delaware, but the state’s efforts to address it have not kept up. Instead, they have pushed to put more and more restrictions on people living on the streets.

This legislation would ensure that local and state governments could no longer arrest or fine a person for being homeless if they have nowhere else to go. This does not give people a free pass — if you are breaking the law you can still be punished. But it does incentivize state and local governments to actually provide housing and services rather than just handcuffs. The debacle at Christina Park in Wilmington shows what happens when our government tries to solve homelessness just by trying to contain people without addressing underlying issues. HB 135 will be heard in the House Housing Committee on Tuesday at 10am. Come out to make your voice heard!

There are plenty of other important bills coming up this week. In the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Mara Gorman has three pieces of legislation — HB 366, HB 367, and HB 368 — which will help hold local and federal law enforcement accountable by banning masks, requiring officer IDs, and making it that someone can’t be arrested unless they have committed an actual crime. 

The House Elections Committee on Wednesday also has two changes being made to elections and campaign finance. HB 360 from Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall would require campaigns to file finance reports every quarter rather than every year, requiring more transparency around how campaigns are raising and spending their money. HB 344 from Rep. Eric Morrison would make more technical provisions to clarify certain provisions of how campaign finance law is enforced.

Finally, another revenue bill will be heard in the House Administration Committee this week, though this one is not as progressive as others that have been proposed. HS 1 for HB 215 would nearly double Delaware’s existing tobacco tax. While tobacco is a public health issue, these taxes often fall the hardest on poor and working-class people, while attempts to make the income tax structure more progressive have failed to be brought up in committee.

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 the Week of 4/20:

Bill #	Sponsor	Summary/Description	Committee and Sign-Up
HB 135	Phillips	Dr. DeBorah Gilbert White Act. This legislation responds to a recent Supreme Court criminalizing homelessness by ensuring that local and state governments could no longer arrest or fine a person for being homeless if they have nowhere else to go.	House Housing Committee Tue, 4/21/26 10:00 AM JFC Hearing Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom here
HB 366	Gorman	Law Enforcement Mask Ban. Stops law enforcement officers from wearing masks, with certain exceptions (medical masks, respirators, undercover operations, SWAT etc...)	House Judiciary Committee Wed, 4/22/26 10:30 AM House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom here
HB 367	Gorman	Officer ID Requirement. Law enforcement agencies operating in Delaware must require officers to display identification while performing enforcement duties. Identification must include the officer’s agency and a name, a badge number, or both.	House Judiciary Committee Wed, 4/22/26 10:30 AM House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom here
HB 368	Gorman	Limiting Immigration Arrests. Prohibits detaining or extending the detention of any person based solely upon an immigration detainer or civil immigration warrant, with exceptions for a person who has been convicted of a violent felony, is a convicted sex offender, has 3 or more convictions for driving under the influence, or is a perpetrator of domestic violence	House Judiciary Committee Wed, 4/22/26 10:30 AM House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom here
HB 360	Snyder-Hall	Quarterly Campaign Finance Reports. Requires that campaigns submit quarterly campaign finance reports, as opposed to only annual reports. It removes the requirement that a political committee submit a campaign finance report 30 days before an election, but retains the requirement that a report be filed 8 days before an election.	House Elections Committee Wed, 4/22/26 1:00 PM House Majority Caucus Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom here
HS 1 for HB 215	Minor-Brown	Increasing Tobacco Taxes. Increases taxes for tobacco products 105 mills to 180 mills per cigarette. Institutes a tax on premium cigars at 30%. Increases tax for snuff from 92 cents to $1.23 per ounce. Includes a tax on nicotine pouches. Does not include marijuana. Excise tax on vapor produces from 5 cents to 10 cents per fluid milliliter. Also increases fees for license from $200 to $400.	House Elections Committee Wed, 4/22/26 3:00 PM JFC Hearing Room 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom here