SB 97 — AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 1, TITLE 2, TITLE 3, TITLE 4, TITLE 5, TITLE 7, TITLE 12, TITLE 16, TITLE 25, TITLE 26, TITLE 27, TITLE 28, TITLE 29, TITLE 30, AND TITLE 31 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO GENDER SILENCING THE DELAWARE CODE.
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 19, 2023. 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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10 sponsors
10 primary, 0 co-sponsors signed on.
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Bipartisan support
Sponsored across 2 parties (4 D · 2 R) — cross-party backing.
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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
In 1995, the General Assembly directed the Code Revisors to gender neutralize or otherwise ensure that a solely masculine or feminine designation never occurs unless it could only apply to one gender. The Code Revisors followed this direction and worked to ensure that laws enacted after 1995 were gender neutralized during the codification process. The Code Revisors also began working through the Delaware Code in existence in 1995 to gender neutralize existing law, a process that is not yet complete. Since 1995, the more common legislative drafting technique is to draft laws so that they are gender silent. Gender silent drafting techniques include substituting the noun for which the masculine or feminine pronoun refers. Thus, instead of drafting a law to say, “The Governor may appoint an individual if he or she deems him or her qualified”, following gender silent techniques the law would say, “The Governor may appoint an individual if the Governor deems the individual qualified.” This technique has the added benefit of providing clarity as many times use of multiple masculine or feminine pronouns can result in confusion as to which noun the pronouns refer. This Act serves two purposes. First, Section 1 of this Act directs and authorizes the Code Revisors to use gender silent techniques to ensure masculine or feminine pronouns are not used in Delaware Code unless the usage requires otherwise. Second, the goal of Sections 2 through 141 of this Act is to complete the process of removing purely masculine pronouns by using gender silent techniques, except in instances where it could not be determined which noun the masculine pronoun applied to.
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: 37 YES 4 ABSENT
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Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 5 On Its Merits
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Assigned to Administration Committee in House
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Passed By Senate. Votes: 19 YES 1 NO 1 ABSENT
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Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 5 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits
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Introduced and Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate
Sponsors
- Stell Parker Selby · Primary
- Lyndon D. Yearick · Primary
- Trey Paradee · Primary
- Brian Pettyjohn · Primary
- S. Elizabeth Lockman · Primary
- Bryan Townsend · Primary
- David P. Sokola · Primary
- Peter C. Schwartzkopf · Primary
- Valerie Longhurst · Primary
- Michael Ramone · Primary
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →10 sponsors · 0 co-sponsors · 52 not signed on · 1 voted No
Sponsors (10)
- Stell Parker Selby
- Lyndon D. Yearick Republican
- Trey Paradee Democratic
- Brian Pettyjohn Republican
- S. Elizabeth Lockman Democratic
- Bryan Townsend Democratic
- David P. Sokola Democratic
- Peter C. Schwartzkopf
- Valerie Longhurst
- Michael Ramone
Co-sponsors (0)
None.
Not signed on (52)
52 members have not signed on to this bill.
Show all 52 →"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 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic | 18 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Republican | 11 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 37 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| % of votes cast | 90% | 0% | 0% | 10% |
How each member voted (41)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republican | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Unaffiliated | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 90% | 5% | 0% | 5% |
How each member voted (21)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Kyle Evans Gay | — | Yea |
| Sarah McBride | — | Yea |
| Bryan Townsend | 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 |
| 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 | Nay |
| Dave G. Lawson | Republican | Not Voting |
| David L. Wilson | Republican | Yea |
| Eric Buckson | Republican | Yea |
| Gerald W. Hocker | Republican | Yea |
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- What does SB 97 do?
- In 1995, the General Assembly directed the Code Revisors to gender neutralize or otherwise ensure that a solely masculine or feminine designation never occurs unless it could only apply to one gender. The Code Revisors followed this direction and worked to ensure that laws enacted after 1995 were gender neutralized during the codification process. The Code Revisors also began working through the Delaware Code in existence in 1995 to gender neutralize existing law, a process that is not yet complete. Since 1995, the more common legislative drafting technique is to draft laws so that they are gender silent. Gender silent drafting techniques include substituting the noun for which the masculine or feminine pronoun refers. Thus, instead of drafting a law to say, “The Governor may appoint an individual if he or she deems him or her qualified”, following gender silent techniques the law would say, “The Governor may appoint an individual if the Governor deems the individual qualified.” This technique has the added benefit of providing clarity as many times use of multiple masculine or feminine pronouns can result in confusion as to which noun the pronouns refer. This Act serves two purposes. First, Section 1 of this Act directs and authorizes the Code Revisors to use gender silent techniques to ensure masculine or feminine pronouns are not used in Delaware Code unless the usage requires otherwise. Second, the goal of Sections 2 through 141 of this Act is to complete the process of removing purely masculine pronouns by using gender silent techniques, except in instances where it could not be determined which noun the masculine pronoun applied to.
- Who sponsors SB 97?
- SB 97 is sponsored by Stell Parker Selby, Lyndon D. Yearick (Republican), Trey Paradee (Democratic), Brian Pettyjohn (Republican), S. Elizabeth Lockman (Democratic), Bryan Townsend (Democratic), David P. Sokola (Democratic), Peter C. Schwartzkopf, Valerie Longhurst, and Michael Ramone.
- What is the current status of SB 97?
- This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced April 19, 2023. Enacted.
- Where can I track SB 97?
- Track SB 97 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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