SB 178 — AN ACT TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF NEW CASTLE.
Last action — Signed by Governor
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✓Introduced
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✓In Committee
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✓Passed Senate
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✓Passed House
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✓To Executive
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6Enacted
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced April 25, 2018. Enacted.
Odds of enactment
High chanceBased 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
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Enacted
Current position in the legislative process.
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2 sponsors
2 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.
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Single-party support
Sponsorship is currently within one party (1 D).
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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 makes the following changes to the Charter of the City of New Castle: 1. Changes the offices of City Clerk and City Treasurer to appointed offices rather than elected offices. This change is consistent with many other Delaware municipalities and supported by the lack of citizen interest in holding these offices with very few contested elections for these positions in the past 20 years. 2. Requires a super majority of Council to remove an appointed City Clerk or City Treasurer to help assure the independence of these offices and insulate them from removal on purely political grounds. 3. Authorizes the creation of other appointive offices by ordinance or resolution. 4. Adopts a "resign to run" provision whereby elected City officials desiring to run for a different City office must resign their current position. 5. Adopts an oath of office which an elected official must take before assuming office. 6. Declares a particular Councilperson's or the Mayor's office vacant due to the failure of an office holder to attend 3 or more consecutive regular monthly meetings of Council, or more than one-third of Council's regular monthly meetings in any consecutive 12 month period. 7. Requires a special election to fill vacancies in elective positions if the next scheduled general election in the City is more than 6 months away instead of having Council fill the vacancy by appointment. 8. Removes the ability of a Councilperson to participate in Council meetings via teleconference. 9. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
Bill Text
- Bill Text View text Current pdf
Action History
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Signed by Governor
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Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES
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Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 4 On Its Merits
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Assigned to Administration Committee in House
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Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 NO
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Amendment SA 1 to SB 178 - Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 1 NO 1 ABSENT
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Reported Out of Committee (Judicial & Community Affairs) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
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Introduced and Assigned to Judicial & Community Affairs Committee in Senate
Sponsors
- Nicole Poore · Primary
- Michael Mulrooney · Primary
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →2 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 60 not signed on · 1 voted No
Sponsors (2)
- Nicole Poore Democratic
- Michael Mulrooney
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.
Votes
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 41 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (41)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 95% | 5% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (21)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Delcollo | — | Yea |
| Brian J. Bushweller | — | Yea |
| Bruce C. Ennis | — | Yea |
| Catherine Cloutier | — | Yea |
| Colin Bonini | — | Yea |
| David B. McBride | — | Yea |
| Ernesto B Lopez | — | Yea |
| F. Gary Simpson | — | Nay |
| 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 | Yea |
| Dave G. Lawson | Republican | Yea |
| Gerald W. Hocker | Republican | Yea |
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- What does SB 178 do?
- This Act makes the following changes to the Charter of the City of New Castle: 1. Changes the offices of City Clerk and City Treasurer to appointed offices rather than elected offices. This change is consistent with many other Delaware municipalities and supported by the lack of citizen interest in holding these offices with very few contested elections for these positions in the past 20 years. 2. Requires a super majority of Council to remove an appointed City Clerk or City Treasurer to help assure the independence of these offices and insulate them from removal on purely political grounds. 3. Authorizes the creation of other appointive offices by ordinance or resolution. 4. Adopts a "resign to run" provision whereby elected City officials desiring to run for a different City office must resign their current position. 5. Adopts an oath of office which an elected official must take before assuming office. 6. Declares a particular Councilperson's or the Mayor's office vacant due to the failure of an office holder to attend 3 or more consecutive regular monthly meetings of Council, or more than one-third of Council's regular monthly meetings in any consecutive 12 month period. 7. Requires a special election to fill vacancies in elective positions if the next scheduled general election in the City is more than 6 months away instead of having Council fill the vacancy by appointment. 8. Removes the ability of a Councilperson to participate in Council meetings via teleconference. 9. This Act also makes technical corrections to conform existing law to the standards of the Delaware Legislative Drafting Manual.
- Who sponsors SB 178?
- SB 178 is sponsored by Nicole Poore (Democratic) and Michael Mulrooney.
- What is the current status of SB 178?
- This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced April 25, 2018. Enacted.
- Where can I track SB 178?
- Track SB 178 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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