5/18/26 Legislative Update
The legislature is in its final week of May before going on a two-week break to finalize the state budget. There is not much in committee this week, but there are some important bills being voted on.
On the house floor, we want to highlight two bills that we spoke about in previous weekly updates that are getting final votes on Tuesday:
HB 374 - Sponsored by WFP Champion Larry Lambert, this requires OMB to prepare an annual report regarding hiring for state large public works projects with an aggregate cost of $3 million or more. The information in these reports will help identify if Delaware workers, particularly individuals who live near a state public works project, are being hired to work on these projects and for how many hours.
HB 145 - Sponsored by WFP Champion Madinah Wilson-Anton, this prohibits law enforcement and courts from requesting, issuing, or enforcing reverse-keyword court orders and reverse-keyword requests.
You can see the full house agenda here.
While the Senate does not have any big WFP Champion bills coming up, there are a few pieces of legislation that will make a big impact that we wanted to highlight:
SB 1 - This legislation is the latest in a series of bills that is attempting to lower the cost of health care by shifting funding away from expensive hospital treatments towards preventative primary care, which has faced a huge shortage in Delaware. This is not a silver bullet, but is an important step towards bringing health costs down. We tried our best to break it down here.
SB 302 - This is the first of two bills looking to revamp Delaware’s public education funding system, a project which has been underway for decades. Arising out of the Public Education Funding Committee, this legislation permits the Department of Education to begin implementing a hybrid funding model which keeps the existing unit system to ensure that schools get adequate teaching staff but also allows for weighted funding that will give more resources to low-income students, students with disabilities, and English language learners.
SB 303 - This renews the Public Education Funding Commission and establishes it as a permanent body to continue to make improvements to the education funding system.
You can see the full senate agenda here.
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 5/18:
| Bill # | Sponsor | Summary/Description | Committee and Sign-Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| SB 13 | Pinkney | Hospital Charity Care. Raises the income cutoff level for receiving discounted or fully covered care from state hospitals. | Senate Health Wed, 5/20/26 10:00 AM Senate Chamber 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom Link |
| HJR 11 | Berry | Rehabilitative Court Program Working Group. Establish a Working Group to explore the feasibility of establishing a Housing Opportunity and Poverty Elimination (HOPE) Court Program. | House Judiciary Wed, 5/20/26 10:30 AM House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom Link |
| HB 406 | Bush | Car Insurance Reimbursement. Prevents insurance providers from mandating that reimbursed repairs take place at a shop of their choosing, allowing drivers to choose their own mechanic. | House Economic Development Tue, 5/19/26 12:00 PM House Majority Hearing Room (H217) 411 Legislative Avenue Dover, DE 19901 Zoom Link |