DOVER — Delaware lawmakers ended the final year of the 153rd General Assembly the way June sessions often end: bleary-eyed, divided and racing the clock, pushing through billions of dollars in spending and a stack of politically charged bills before sunrise while leaving some of the year’s most consequential fights unresolved.
By the time the final gavels fell, legislators had approved a nearly $7 billion operating budget, a $1.26 billion capital budget, a nearly $100 million grant-in-aid package and measures touching on property taxes, gun regulations, marriage protections, voting rights, immigration enforcement, marijuana zoning and energy policy. The same final hours also exposed the limits of deadline lawmaking, as proposals on sexual abuse claims, union labor requirements, broader pension tax relief and tobacco taxes fell short.
The biggest-ticket item was the Bond Bill, the state’s annual capital spending plan. The measure authorized roughly $1.26 billion for public construction and infrastructure projects, including school construction, state facilities, transportation and port-related investments. The total exceeded the amount recommended in Gov. Matt Meyer’s proposal and became a central point of late-night negotiation, particularly because of funding connected to the proposed Port of Wilmington expansion at Edgemoor.
Supporters framed the capital budget as a jobs and infrastructure package, while Republican lawmakers raised concerns about the timing, transparency and fiscal oversight of major projects. The bill briefly became entangled with other late-session negotiations before the House ultimately returned to it and approved it in the early morning hours.
Lawmakers also completed work on the operating budget, sending the governor a spending plan of nearly $7 billion. The budget increases funding for education, health care, state employees and reserves, while continuing a broader debate over whether the state’s recurring spending growth can be sustained in future years. The annual grant-in-aid bill, which directs money to nonprofits, volunteer fire companies, senior centers, veterans groups and community organizations, also cleared the legislature at nearly $100 million.
Property taxes remained one of the session’s most politically sensitive subjects following New Castle County’s first countywide reassessment in more than four decades. Two bills moved forward in response: one requiring county building inspectors to provide monthly permit reports to improve assessment data, and another giving school districts more flexibility to adjust tax rates as appeals and reassessment changes continue. Supporters said the measures were necessary fixes to a flawed process, while critics questioned whether they offered enough protection for taxpayers.
The final day also produced movement on several social policy measures, including Senate Substitute 2 for Senate Bill 100, the marriage-rights constitutional amendment that had appeared to fail a week earlier before supporters revived it. The substitute version framed the right to marry as a fundamental right that could not be denied or abridged on the basis of gender or any basis protected by the state constitution’s equal-rights provision, and it clarified that legally valid marriages must be treated equally under Delaware law while preserving existing religious-freedom protections. The House ultimately approved the measure with the two-thirds vote required for constitutional amendments.
Claire Snyder-Hall (Dem -RD14)
Passage hinged on the changed votes of Rep. Mike Smith (“Not Voting” to “Yes”), Rep. Josue Ortega (“No” to “Yes”), Rep. Medina Wilson-Anton (“Not Voting” to “Yes”) and Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall (“No” to “Yes”, in a procedural move by a sponsor to have it reconsidered). It must pass again in the next General Assembly before becoming part of the constitution. Pending constitutional amendments creating constitutional protections for “abortion” and the “right to privacy” did not make it across the finish line.
Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 180, another first-leg constitutional amendment, aimed at modernizing Delaware’s voting provisions and restoring voting rights to people convicted of felonies once they are released from incarceration or pardoned. The bill would remove outdated constitutional language, including references to a 21-year-old voting age, durational residency requirements and literacy-test language, while shifting Delaware toward automatic re-enfranchisement after imprisonment rather than after completion of an entire sentence that may include probation. Like the marriage amendment, HB 180 will need approval in the next General Assembly before it can take effect.
Public safety and regulatory bills added to the partisan divide. Senators approved amended legislation imposing additional requirements on firearms dealers, a measure supporters described as a way to curb illegal firearm purchases and opponents criticized as another burden on lawful businesses. Lawmakers also passed new data center regulations and wetlands rules, reflecting growing concern over energy demand, environmental protection and the effect of large development projects on utility customers.
Immigration enforcement became another late-session flashpoint. Lawmakers approved a package of bills limiting the role of state and local actors in federal immigration enforcement, led by House Bill 182, which bars Delaware law-enforcement agencies from entering into or renewing agreements that authorize them to enforce federal civil immigration violations, detain people for those violations or share immigration-status-related information except when required by federal law or a valid judicial warrant. The bill followed controversy over local interest in federal 287(g) partnerships with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and was promoted by supporters as a way to preserve trust between police and immigrant communities while maintaining cooperation on other public safety matters.
The broader immigration-related slate also included measures aimed at preventing private or unauthorized enforcement activity. House Bill 152 expanded Delaware’s impersonation statute to cover people falsely presenting themselves as federal officers, including immigration agents. House Bill 153 prohibited arrests or detentions by people who lack explicit statutory authority, effectively ending citizen’s arrests, while House Bill 142 removed authority for private individuals to make warrantless arrests in Delaware based on felony allegations from another state. Together, the bills reflected lawmakers’ concern that heightened federal immigration activity could blur the lines between trained law enforcement, federal agents and private actors.
In one of the night’s more dramatic turns, the House voted to override Gov. Meyer’s veto of legislation limiting the land-use restrictions counties can impose on marijuana businesses. The override came after a Delaware Supreme Court ruling reaffirmed the state’s authority over land-use issues, and it underscored an ongoing fight between state lawmakers and local governments over who should control zoning decisions tied to legal cannabis.
Senate President Pro Tempore, David Sokola (Dem – SD8)
Not every priority survived the marathon session. A bill with strong bipartisan support that would have eliminated the statute of limitations for certain child sexual abuse civil claims collapsed after the Senate approved it with an amendment from Sen. David Sokola changing how liability would be defined. Critics from both parties said the amendment weakened the bill, and the House sponsor, Rep. Tim Dukes, ultimately pulled the measure rather than accept the altered version.
Tim Dukes (Repub – RD40)
Labor-related proposals also stalled. One bill would have required union labor on large state and school construction projects, while another sought to establish constitutional protection for collective bargaining rights. Neither reached the floor in the final session. A tobacco tax increase backed by the Meyer administration also failed to receive a final House vote, leaving unresolved both its projected revenue and its public health goals.
Veterans secured one late-session win: lawmakers passed legislation to gradually double the military pension exclusion from $12,500 to $25,000 by 2029. A broader proposal to expand tax protections for other civilian pensions did not advance, highlighting the fiscal limits facing lawmakers even as they approved larger spending packages elsewhere.
The session’s closing hours drew familiar criticism over the pace and timing of end-of-session lawmaking. Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend described the pileup as part of the “nature of the beast,” while House Minority Whip Jeff Spiegelman characterized the negotiations as a normal June clash among Republicans, Democrats, the House and the Senate. House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown used her closing remarks to praise legislation she said protected fundamental freedoms and expanded access to health care, while also commending lawmakers who chose collaboration over division. The final session was gaveled to a close as the clock approached 6 AM on Wednesday morning.
Taken together, the final day reflected both the reach and the limits of Democratic control in Dover. Lawmakers advanced major spending, gun regulation, marriage protections, voting-rights changes, property reassessment fixes, immigration-enforcement limits and new rules affecting development and energy policy, but left unresolved some of the year’s most difficult debates over taxes, labor policy, long-term property tax reform, health care costs and liability for abuse claims. As the General Assembly enters its off-season, those unfinished fights are likely to follow lawmakers into a contentious election-year summer.
Brent is a 35-year resident of Delaware, having retired after a 38 year career in Operations & Supply Chain with Dupont and Axalta. He is active politically and focuses primarily on Delaware legislative activities.
