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

SB 171 — AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE TOWN OF HOUSTON.

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 June 05, 2025. Enacted.

Signed by Governor Matt Meyer (Democratic) on June 30, 2025.

Odds of enactment

High chance

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

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

Prognosis

Likely to advance 74% · moderate confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 2 sponsors

    2 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (2 R).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes 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 amends the Town of Houston (“Town”) Charter to do all of the following: 1. Gender neutralize the Charter. 2. Clarify the voting rights for multiple owners of a single piece of real estate located in the Town. 3. Change the times for polling and elections. 4. Change the qualifications of Town Councilmembers, the Town Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Treasurer, Town Tax Collector, and Town Solicitor. 5. Change the dates on which nominations for Town Councilmembers can be made. 6. Clarify when Town Council meetings may be held and the date when Town Councilmembers can be sworn into office. 7. Change the type of contracts that the Town Council may enter into. 8. Change and clarify how Town taxes may be levied and collected. 9. Change how the Town budget must be posted. 10. Remove the regulation and control of observance of the Sabbath Day. 11. Change the Town’s right to regulate animals, beasts, birds, or fowl. 12. Increase the Town’s ability to levy fines. 13. Remove limits on the amount of revenue the Town may raise. 14. Clarify the utilities the Town may tax. 15. Increase the borrowing limits of the Town. 16. Give the Town greater flexibility to locate a bank to serve the Town. 17. Change the voting rights in special elections. 18. Corrects citations to the Delaware Code. This Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act also incorporates previously enacted changes [64 Del. Laws c. 211] that were inadvertently not included in the online copy of the Town of Houston’s Charter. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a municipal charter.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By House. Votes: 40 YES 1 VACANT

  3. Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 5 On Its Merits

  4. Assigned to Administration Committee in House

  5. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  6. Reported Out of Committee (Elections & Government Affairs) in Senate with 2 Favorable, 4 On Its Merits

  7. Introduced and Assigned to Elections & Government Affairs Committee in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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2 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 60 not signed on

Sponsors (2)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (60)

60 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 60 →

"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

3/4

Passed 40 Yea · 0 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 26000
Republican 14000
Total 40000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (40)
Member Party Vote
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 Yea
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 Yea
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
William Bush Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Yea
Bryan W. Shupe Republican Yea
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Yea
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
Jeff Hilovsky Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Yea
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Yea
Michael F. Smith Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Yea
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Shannon Morris Republican Yea
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea
Valerie Jones Giltner Republican Yea

Official roll call →

2/3

Passed 21 Yea · 0 Nay
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 15000
Republican 6000
Total 21000
% of votes cast 100%0%0%0%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
Daniel Cruce Democratic Yea
Darius J. Brown Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Kyra L. Hoffner Democratic Yea
Laura V. Sturgeon Democratic Yea
Marie Pinkney Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
Ray Seigfried Democratic Yea
Russell Huxtable Democratic Yea
S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic Yea
Spiros Mantzavinos Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Yea
Dave G. Lawson Republican Yea
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Eric Buckson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

taxation civil-rights elections
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 171 do?
This Act amends the Town of Houston (“Town”) Charter to do all of the following: 1. Gender neutralize the Charter. 2. Clarify the voting rights for multiple owners of a single piece of real estate located in the Town. 3. Change the times for polling and elections. 4. Change the qualifications of Town Councilmembers, the Town Secretary, Assistant Secretary, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Treasurer, Town Tax Collector, and Town Solicitor. 5. Change the dates on which nominations for Town Councilmembers can be made. 6. Clarify when Town Council meetings may be held and the date when Town Councilmembers can be sworn into office. 7. Change the type of contracts that the Town Council may enter into. 8. Change and clarify how Town taxes may be levied and collected. 9. Change how the Town budget must be posted. 10. Remove the regulation and control of observance of the Sabbath Day. 11. Change the Town’s right to regulate animals, beasts, birds, or fowl. 12. Increase the Town’s ability to levy fines. 13. Remove limits on the amount of revenue the Town may raise. 14. Clarify the utilities the Town may tax. 15. Increase the borrowing limits of the Town. 16. Give the Town greater flexibility to locate a bank to serve the Town. 17. Change the voting rights in special elections. 18. Corrects citations to the Delaware Code. This Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual. This Act also incorporates previously enacted changes [64 Del. Laws c. 211] that were inadvertently not included in the online copy of the Town of Houston’s Charter. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article IX of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend a municipal charter.
Who sponsors SB 171?
SB 171 is sponsored by Charles S Postles Jr. (Republican) and David L. Wilson (Republican).
What is the current status of SB 171?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 05, 2025. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 171?
Track SB 171 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.

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