6/30/26 Legislative Update

Today is the final day of the legislative session before they go on break for the remainder of the year. This is the last opportunity for any legislation to pass before being reset next year, making it the most important day of the year in the Delaware General Assembly. Here are some bills to be aware of.

On The House Side

SB 326 - This legislation attempts to protect ratepayers by adding new requirements and restrictions for what Delmarva can and can’t do. While the bill is good, House Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn Harris introduced an amendment along with other Democrats and Republicans that would gut one of the key pieces of this bill. The amendment would remove the cap on what Delmarva can spend on infrastructure — one of the costs they are allowed to pass onto consumers. Right now, Delmarva is building speculative infrastructure on your dime, and this amendment would allow that to continue.

HCR 158 - Rep. Harris has also introduced this resolution that would voluntarily adjust its interim rate implementation. This is a sad replacement for what SB 326 would require without the amendment.

HB 188 - Introduced by Rep. Mike Smith, this legislation would open up primaries to independents. While we believe that more people should be brought into the electorate, this main results of this bill would be to make the Democratic electorate whiter and more conservative, all while re-entrenching the two-party system in Delaware. An alternative like rank-choice voting or fusion voting would be a better way

SS 2 for SB 1 - The goal of this legislation is to reduce the cost of health care by shifting insurance funding away from expensive hospital care towards preventative and primary care. Since we wrote about this bill last month, it has been watered down significantly, but will hopefully still move us in the right direction around health care costs.

SS 1 for SB 5 - This is a constitutional amendment to protect the right to choose in Delaware. While this is already codified in state law, this would protect it from being overridden by a simple majority in the future.

SS 1 for SB 16 - Right to Redemption, which allows tenants who are being evicted for failure to pay rent to remain in their homes if they pay all amounts owed prior to being evicted.

SB 309 w/SA 1 - Intended to prohibit the Department of Corrections from making deductions from inmate pay to cover costs associated with their incarceration.

You can see the full house agenda here. There is other legislation that is not on the agenda but will hopefully be brought up for a vote through suspension of the rules:

• SS 2 for SB 100 - Much like SB 5, this is legislation that protects an existing right by enshrining it in a constitutional amendment. SB 100 protects gay and interracial marriage in the constitution, but it failed last week after receiving unanimous Republican opposition alongside a no and not voting from two Democrats. Since then, at least one Democrat has publicly stated they will change their vote to yes, and there is a good chance the other Democrat and at least Republican will also change their vote.

• SB 272 - This legislation would require Project Labor Agreements on all school projects costing more than $5 million. Essentially, this would allow for more union contractors and union workers to get work on state projects. While this bill passed the senate with unanimous Democratic support, it has been held up in the house. An amendment was filed yesterday to increase the size of projects required, which potentially shows a deal has been struck.

The legislative session starts at 2:00pm today and will likely run late into the night. If you would like to follow along, then you can see the streaming video here.

On the Senate Side

HB 430 - Rep. Harris isn’t just doing bad things. This constitutional amendment would ban corporations from voting in local elections in Delaware, a problem which has was highlighted by a recent court decision that upheld the right of Fenwick Island to allow corporations to vote in their elections.

HB 444 - Sponsored by WFP Champion Larry Lambert, this legislation would bring many of the pieces of the failed national John Lewis Voting Rights Act to Delaware.

HB 233 - Sponsored by WFP Champion Frank Burns, this creates a new class for large energy-use facilities that would applied to data centers. By allowing these large energy user to be charged a higher rate for the electricity they use, that would help reduce the costs to everyday people if the state does begin building larger data centers.

HB 133 - Over the past few years, there have been several bills helping to decriminalize poverty, and this legislation continues in that trend by allowing the courts to waive a fine or fee when a defendant clearly does not have the means to pay a financial penalty or fee.

HB 145 - Sponsored by WFP Champion Madinah Wilson-Anton, this legislation would ban “reverse keyword searches” where law enforcement can see everyone who searched something in particular. In an era where local and federal law enforcement are increasingly used to criminalize immigration status and political organizing, this helps protect Delaware residents from overreach.

You can see the full senate agenda here. The legislative session starts at 2:00pm today and will likely run late into the night. If you would like to follow along, then you can see the streaming video here.