Delaware 149th General Assembly (2017-2018) Status: Enacted Bipartisan · 7 R · 5 D cosponsors

SB 243 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 9 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO UNLAWFUL RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS.

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 13, 2018. Enacted.

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 98% · high confidence

  • Enacted

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 29 sponsors

    4 primary, 25 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (7 R · 5 D) — cross-party backing.

  • 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

Since 1973, § 9605(b) of Title 9 of the Delaware Code (“§ 9605”) has prohibited the recordation of instruments that restrict the sale, gift, transfer, assignment, conveyance, ownership, lease, rental, use, or occupancy of real property to or by any person because of the person’s race, color, creed, sex, national origin, or ancestry. This Act provides a mechanism for owners of real property subject to an instrument that contains a provision that restricts property rights based on the list of characteristics included in § 9605, including the governing documents of a common interest community, to redact and strike the unlawful restrictive covenant language from instruments recorded with a county recorder of deeds before the original enactment of § 9605 or in violation of § 9605. This Act also amends the list of characteristics included in § 9605 that may not be used to discriminate in the sale, gift, transfer, assignment, conveyance, ownership, lease, rental, use, or occupancy of real property to make it consistent with Delaware’s fair housing laws. However, this Act makes clear that provisions that are permitted by the exceptions to the Delaware Fair Housing Act are not prohibited from being recorded by a recorder of deeds. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.

Bill Text

Action History

  1. Signed by Governor

  2. Passed By House. Votes: 35 YES 6 ABSENT

  3. Reported Out of Committee (Housing & Community Affairs) in House with 7 On Its Merits

  4. Assigned to Housing & Community Affairs Committee in House

  5. Passed By Senate. Votes: 18 YES 3 ABSENT

  6. Amendment SA 1 to SB 243 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 18 YES 3 ABSENT

  7. Reported Out of Committee (Judicial & Community Affairs) in Senate with 2 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits

  8. Introduced and Assigned to Judicial & Community Affairs Committee in Senate

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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4 sponsors · 25 co-sponsors · 33 not signed on

Sponsors (4)

Co-sponsors (25)

Not signed on (33)

33 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 33 →

"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 35 Yea · 0 Nay · 6 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 21004
Democratic 5002
Republican 9000
Total 35006
% of votes cast 85%0%0%15%
How each member voted (41)
Member Party Vote
Andria L. Bennett — Yea
Bryon H. Short — Yea
Charles Potter Jr. — Yea
David Bentz — Yea
Deborah Hudson — Yea
Earl G. Jaques Jr. — Yea
Gerald L. Brady — Yea
Harvey R. Kenton — Not Voting
Helene M. Keeley — Yea
James Johnson — Not Voting
John A. Kowalko — Yea
John J. Viola — Yea
John L. Mitchell — Yea
Joseph E. Miro — Yea
Melanie George Smith — Not Voting
Michael Mulrooney — Yea
Michael Ramone — Not Voting
Paul S. Baumbach — Yea
Peter C. Schwartzkopf — Yea
Quinton Johnson — Yea
Ruth Briggs King — Yea
Sean Matthews — Yea
Stephen Smyk — Yea
Valerie Longhurst — Yea
William R. Outten — Yea
Debra Heffernan Democratic Not Voting
Edward S. Osienski Democratic Yea
Kimberly Williams Democratic Yea
Sean M. Lynn Democratic Yea
Stephanie T. Bolden Democratic Yea
Trey Paradee Democratic Yea
William J. Carson Democratic Not Voting
Charles S Postles Jr. Republican Yea
Daniel B. Short Republican Yea
David L. Wilson Republican Yea
Jeffrey N. Spiegelman Republican Yea
Kevin S Hensley Republican Yea
Lyndon D. Yearick Republican Yea
Richard G. Collins Republican Yea
Ronald E. Gray Republican Yea
Timothy D. Dukes Republican Yea

Official roll call →

SM

Passed 18 Yea · 0 Nay · 3 Other
Party YeaNayPresentNot Voting
Unaffiliated 10002
Democratic 5000
Republican 3001
Total 18003
% of votes cast 86%0%0%14%
How each member voted (21)
Member Party Vote
Anthony Delcollo — Yea
Brian J. Bushweller — Yea
Bruce C. Ennis — Yea
Catherine Cloutier — Not Voting
Colin Bonini — Yea
David B. McBride — Yea
Ernesto B Lopez — Yea
F. Gary Simpson — Not Voting
Gregory F. Lavelle — Yea
Harris B. McDowell — Yea
Margaret Rose Henry — Yea
Robert Marshall — Yea
Bryan Townsend Democratic Yea
David P. Sokola Democratic Yea
John "Jack" Walsh Democratic Yea
Nicole Poore Democratic Yea
Stephanie L. Hansen Democratic Yea
Brian Pettyjohn Republican Yea
Bryant L. Richardson Republican Not Voting
Dave G. Lawson Republican Yea
Gerald W. Hocker Republican Yea

Official roll call →

Subjects

housing civil-rights
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 243 do?
Since 1973, § 9605(b) of Title 9 of the Delaware Code (“§ 9605”) has prohibited the recordation of instruments that restrict the sale, gift, transfer, assignment, conveyance, ownership, lease, rental, use, or occupancy of real property to or by any person because of the person’s race, color, creed, sex, national origin, or ancestry. This Act provides a mechanism for owners of real property subject to an instrument that contains a provision that restricts property rights based on the list of characteristics included in § 9605, including the governing documents of a common interest community, to redact and strike the unlawful restrictive covenant language from instruments recorded with a county recorder of deeds before the original enactment of § 9605 or in violation of § 9605. This Act also amends the list of characteristics included in § 9605 that may not be used to discriminate in the sale, gift, transfer, assignment, conveyance, ownership, lease, rental, use, or occupancy of real property to make it consistent with Delaware’s fair housing laws. However, this Act makes clear that provisions that are permitted by the exceptions to the Delaware Fair Housing Act are not prohibited from being recorded by a recorder of deeds. Finally, this Act makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Who sponsors SB 243?
SB 243 is sponsored by Kevin S Hensley (Republican), Stephanie L. Hansen (Democratic), Brian Pettyjohn (Republican), William J. Carson (Democratic), Richard G. Collins (Republican), Debra Heffernan (Democratic), Edward S. Osienski (Democratic), Daniel B. Short (Republican), Jeffrey N. Spiegelman (Republican), Kimberly Williams (Democratic), David L. Wilson (Republican), Lyndon D. Yearick (Republican), Sean Matthews, John A. Kowalko, Ruth Briggs King, Andria L. Bennett, Paul S. Baumbach, David B. McBride, Robert Marshall, Gregory F. Lavelle, Anthony Delcollo, Charles Potter Jr., Harris B. McDowell, Margaret Rose Henry, Stephen Smyk, Bryon H. Short, Peter C. Schwartzkopf, Michael Mulrooney, and John L. Mitchell.
What is the current status of SB 243?
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced June 13, 2018. Enacted.
Where can I track SB 243?
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