Legislative Advocacy (Updated 7/01/2026)

Summary for the 153rd General Assembly.

NOTE: Click on the bill to see the name of the sponsor, co-sponsors, fiscal notes, and other bill information.

VOTING RIGHTS (153rd General Assembly)

PASSED

  • Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 2 (passed the House and Senate) is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to specifically authorize early, in-person voting for the general election, a primary election, and a special election filling a vacancy in the General Assembly.

  • Senate Substitute 1 for Senate Bill 3 (passed the House and Senate) is the first leg of a constitutional amendment to eliminate the limitations on when an individual may vote absentee and provide an absolute right to vote by absentee ballot without an excuse.

  • House Bill 180 (Passed by the House and Senate), restores voting rights for people who have served their sentence for a felony.

  • House Bill 430 (Passed by the House and Senate), is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that would require that only natural persons be allowed to vote in any election in this State, and forbid corporations and other artificial entities from voting in such elections.

  • House Bill 444 (Passed by the House and Senate), establishes a “Delaware John Lewis Voting Rights Act” to counter the assault of our voting rights at the federal level.

 

DID NOT PASS

  • House Bill 65 (Passed by the House and was not released by the Senate Executive Committee), moves the date of primary elections for statewide office, county office, and municipal office to the fourth Tuesday in April, which is the date of the presidential primary (in presidential election years). 

  • House Substitute 1 for House Bill 88 (Defeated by the House), would have allowed same-day voter registration.

  • House Bill 188 (Passed the House and went nowhere), allows Delaware voters who are not affiliated with a political party to vote in a political party's primary election.

  • House Substitute 2 for HB 317 (Not released by the House Appropriations Committee), requires the Division of Motor Vehicles, which is the only state agency that administers automatic voter registration, to conduct an audit of certain voter registrations.

 

IMMIGRATION (153 General Assembly)

PASSED

  • Senate Bill 27 (Passed the House and Senate) establishes the Office of New Americans to help improve the lives and economic prosperity of new Americans who come to Delaware and of all Delawareans generally.

  • House Substitute 2 for HB 94 (Passed the House and Senate), restricts DE law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement activities in schools, healthcare settings, or places of worship without the permission of the Attorney General.

  • House Substitute 1 for HB 150 (Passed the House and Senate), no arrests in DE courthouses without a judicial warrant.

  • House Substitute 2 for HB151 (Passed the House, Senate, and Signed) prohibits the State, a unit of local government, or any agency, officer, employee, or agent thereof, from doing the following with respect to a detention facility owned, managed, or operated by a private entity: (1) Enter into an agreement of any kind for the detention of an individual with; (2) Pay, reimburse, subsidize, or defray in any way any cost related to the sale, purchase, construction, development, ownership, management, or operation of; (3) Receive per diem, per detainee, or any other payment related to the detention of an individual in; (4) Give any financial incentive or benefit to any private entity or person in connection with the sale, purchase, construction, development, ownership, management, or operation of.

  • House Substitute 1 HB 368 (Passed the House and the Senate), 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.

 

DID NOT PASS

  • House Bill 44 (Did not receive a floor vote), requires the State to have a migrant education program to ensure that migrant children’s educational needs are met.

  • House Bill 58 (Released from committee; no floor vote) law-enforcement officer of this State is not allowed to do any of the following: (1) Stop, question, arrest, search, or detain any individual based on actual or suspected citizenship or immigration status, or actual or suspected violations of federal civil immigration law. (2) Inquire about an individual’s immigration status, citizenship, place of birth, or eligibility for a social security number. (3) Make an arrest, detain, or prolong the detention of an individual based on civil immigration warrants or immigration detainers.

  • House Bill 93 (Released from committee; no floor vote), restricts school officials from cooperating with law enforcement in matters of immigration.

  • House Bill 95 (Released from committee; no floor vote), restricts sharing student data with immigration enforcement agencies.

  • House Bill 96 (Passed the House and was not released from the Senate Executive Committee), requires mandatory reporting of any Federal request for information.

  • House Bill 366 (Stricken in the House), prohibits law-enforcement officers from wearing facial coverings that obscure the identity of the individual wearing them in the course of their duties, with exceptions for undercover operations and exigent circumstances.

  • House Bill 367 (Stricken in the House) - requires every law enforcement agency in Delaware to adopt and publicly post a written policy requiring officers to display identification while performing enforcement duties.

    • NOTE: The bills (366 & 367) were withdrawn by its own sponsor — not defeated by a vote — due to concerns about its constitutional viability in light of California court rulings. The sponsor chose to focus instead on HB 368, a related bill that she believed stood on firmer legal ground.


 

DATA CENTERS (153 General Assembly)

PASSED

  • House Substitute 1 for House Bill 233 (Passed the House and Senate, requires regulated utilities to establish a separate rate class for large energy use facilities that mitigates the risk of costs associated with expanding infrastructure and maintaining reliability in the face of growing demand from being shifted to residential, small business, and other electric customers.

  • House Bill 310 (Passed the House and Senate), excludes large energy use facilities from the definition of a qualified facility for purposes of determining eligibility for a tax credit or license fee reduction for the creation of employment and qualified investment in business facilities.

  • Senate Bill 312 (Passed the House and Senate), prohibits state agencies, counties, and municipalities from entering into nondisclosure agreements that would restrict the public from accessing information about potential or actual large-scale data center development in this State.

  • House Bill 445 (Passed the House and Senate) requires large energy use facilities to produce renewable energy within the state to power their operations to prevent a drain on the electric grid. 

 

DID NOT PASS

  • Senate Bill 205 (Reported out of committee but no floor votes), requires any person or entity seeking to begin the business of using 30 megawatts (MW) of electricity or greater to first obtain a Certificate to Operate (“COP”) from the Public Service Commission.