Delaware 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026) Status: Passed Senate 3 D cosponsors

SB 290 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO PUBLIC BODIES.

Last action — Signed by Governor

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

This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced April 21, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.

Next likely step: consideration and a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Advancing 52% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Moderate

How often bills like it became law.

  • Passed Senate

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 3 sponsors

    3 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Single-party support

    Sponsorship is currently within one party (3 D).

  • Cleared a recorded vote

    Passed 2 recorded votes so far.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

In plain language

The bill clarifies how public bodies are identified under Delaware's Freedom of Information Act.

This Act specifies that quorum is not used to define the identity of a public body. Instead, the governing document and the business conducted will determine the public body's identity for meeting requirements under FOIA.

Summary

This Act clarifies that quorum does not define the identity of a public body. Under rules of parliamentary procedure like Mason’s Manual or Robert’s Rules of Order, quorum is used to determine whether enough of a body is present to conduct business. Under Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), quorum is used to determine whether a public body is holding a “meeting” as defined under FOIA and therefore required to comply with open meeting requirements. However, quorum is not, under parliamentary procedure or FOIA, dispositive to determining the identity of the public body that is meeting. The governing document that creates the body determines the identity of the body under parliamentary law and that, in addition to an examination of the actual public business being conducted, will guide answers to questions about the identity of the public body for purposes of FOIA.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Passed By House. Votes: 39 YES 1 NO 1 ABSENT

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

  3. Assigned to Administration Committee in House

  4. Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES

  5. Reported Out of Committee (Elections & Government Affairs) in Senate with 1 Favorable, 5 On Its Merits

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

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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3 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 59 not signed on · 1 voted No

Sponsors (3)

Co-sponsors (0)

None.

Not signed on (59)

59 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 59 →

"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

2/3

Passed 39 Yea · 1 Nay · 1 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Democratic 27000
Republican 12101
Total 39101
% of votes cast 95%2%0%2%
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 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 Nay
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Jesse R. Vanderwende Republican Not Voting
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 →

SM

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

public-safety 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 290 do?
This Act clarifies that quorum does not define the identity of a public body. Under rules of parliamentary procedure like Mason’s Manual or Robert’s Rules of Order, quorum is used to determine whether enough of a body is present to conduct business. Under Delaware’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), quorum is used to determine whether a public body is holding a “meeting” as defined under FOIA and therefore required to comply with open meeting requirements. However, quorum is not, under parliamentary procedure or FOIA, dispositive to determining the identity of the public body that is meeting. The governing document that creates the body determines the identity of the body under parliamentary law and that, in addition to an examination of the actual public business being conducted, will guide answers to questions about the identity of the public body for purposes of FOIA.
Who sponsors SB 290?
SB 290 is sponsored by Kerri Evelyn Harris (Democratic), Ray Seigfried (Democratic), and Bryan Townsend (Democratic).
What is the current status of SB 290?
This bill has passed the Senate. Introduced April 21, 2026. It now moves to the second chamber.
Where can I track SB 290?
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