Delaware 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 21 D · 2 R cosponsors

SB 203 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO COUNTY TAX LEVY.

Last action — Signed by Governor

  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. ✓
    In Committee
  3. ✓
    Passed Senate
  4. ✓
    Passed House
  5. ✓
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced August 11, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Matt Meyer (Democratic) on August 12, 2025.

Odds of enactment

High chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a high chance of becoming law.

Upgrade to see the exact probability and what's driving it.

A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Likely to advance 98% · high confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 25 sponsors

    25 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (21 D · 2 R) — cross-party backing.

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 1 recorded vote so far.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

This Act codifies Delaware’s longstanding common law recognition of the authority of Delaware counties and municipalities to separately tax different classes of real property if the classification is reasonable and, under § 1 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution, the tax rates are uniform for all real property in each classification. See Green v. Sussex County, 668 A.2d 770, 776 (Del. Super. Ct. 1995), aff’d 667 A.2d 1319 TABLE (Del. 1995); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Smith, 131 A.2d 168, 177-78 (Del. 1957); Phila. B & W R. Co. v. Mayor & Council of Wilm., 57 A.2d 759, 765-66 (Del. Ch. 1948); Conrad v. State, 16 A.2d 121, 125-26 (Del. 1940). As this Act is a codification of longstanding authority of taxing authorities to separately tax different classes of real property, Section 5 of this Act makes clear that this Act applies to county tax rates retroactively and prospectively.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By House. Votes: 30 YES 9 NO 2 ABSENT

  3. Suspension of Rules in House

  4. Suspension of Rules in House

  5. Passed By Senate. Votes: 18 YES 1 NO 2 ABSENT

  6. Lifted From Table in Senate

  7. Suspension of Rules in Senate

  8. Introduced and Laid on Table in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

Export CSV (upgrade) →

25 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 37 not signed on · 9 voted No

Sponsors (25)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (37)

37 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 37 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Votes

SM

Passed 30 Yea · 9 Nay · 2 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 25002
Republican 5900
Total 30902
% of votes cast 73%22%0%5%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Alonna Berry Democratic Yea
Claire Snyder-Hall Democratic Yea
Cyndie Romer Democratic Yea
DeShanna U Neal Democratic Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Yea
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Eric Morrison Democratic Yea
Frank Burns Democratic Yea
Franklin D. Cooke Democratic Yea
Josue O Ortega Democratic Yea
Kamela T Smith Democratic Yea
Kendra Johnson Democratic Yea
Kerri Evelyn Harris Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Krista Griffith Democratic Not Voting
Larry Lambert Democratic Yea
Madinah Wilson-Anton Democratic Yea
Mara Gorman Democratic Yea
Melanie Ross Levin Democratic Yea
Melissa Minor-Brown Democratic Yea
Nnamdi O. Chukwuocha Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Sherae'a Moore Democratic Yea
Sophie Phillips Democratic Not Voting
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
William Bush Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Bryan W. Shupe Republican Nay
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Nay
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
Jeff Hilovsky Republican Nay
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Nay
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Nay
Michael F. Smith Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Nay
Ronald E. Gray Republican Nay
Shannon Morris Republican Nay
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea
Valerie Jones Giltner Republican Nay

Official roll call →

Subjects

taxation
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does SB 203 do?
This Act codifies Delaware’s longstanding common law recognition of the authority of Delaware counties and municipalities to separately tax different classes of real property if the classification is reasonable and, under § 1 of Article VIII of the Delaware Constitution, the tax rates are uniform for all real property in each classification. See Green v. Sussex County, 668 A.2d 770, 776 (Del. Super. Ct. 1995), aff’d 667 A.2d 1319 TABLE (Del. 1995); Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Smith, 131 A.2d 168, 177-78 (Del. 1957); Phila. B & W R. Co. v. Mayor & Council of Wilm., 57 A.2d 759, 765-66 (Del. Ch. 1948); Conrad v. State, 16 A.2d 121, 125-26 (Del. 1940). As this Act is a codification of longstanding authority of taxing authorities to separately tax different classes of real property, Section 5 of this Act makes clear that this Act applies to county tax rates retroactively and prospectively.
Who sponsors SB 203?
SB 203 is sponsored by Brian Pettyjohn (Republican), Claire Snyder-Hall (Democratic), Dave G. Lawson (Republican), Marie Pinkney (Democratic), Eric Morrison (Democratic), Russell Huxtable (Democratic), Nicole Poore (Democratic), Mara Gorman (Democratic), Franklin D. Cooke (Democratic), William J. Carson (Democratic), William Bush (Democratic), Darius J. Brown (Democratic), John "Jack" Walsh (Democratic), Laura V. Sturgeon (Democratic), Ray Seigfried (Democratic), Melanie Ross Levin, Edward S. Osienski (Democratic), Kerri Evelyn Harris (Democratic), Trey Paradee (Democratic), Cyndie Romer (Democratic), Josue O Ortega (Democratic), Bryan Townsend (Democratic), David P. Sokola (Democratic), Spiros Mantzavinos (Democratic), and Sarah McBride.
What is the current status of SB 203?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced August 11, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 203?
Track SB 203 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

Make your voice heard on SB 203

Find the representatives who decide this bill and tell them where you stand — for yourself, or mobilize your whole list in one click with One Click Politics advocacy software.

Find my representatives → Run a campaign

Stay ahead of SB 203

Last checked for changes about 1 month ago · updated continuously

One Click Politics tracks every bill in Congress and all 50 states.

Track this bill →