AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE PROCEDURE FOR DISSEMINATION TO THE PUBLIC OF A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION.

Legislation Document

SPONSOR:

Rep. Minor-Brown & Rep. Harris & Rep. Osienski & Sen. Sokola & Sen. Townsend & Sen. Lockman

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

153rd GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 321

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE PROCEDURE FOR DISSEMINATION TO THE PUBLIC OF A PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE DELAWARE CONSTITUTION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 914, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 914. Procedure for

notice

dissemination

to the public of a proposed amendment to the Delaware Constitution.

(a) For purposes of this

section:

section,

(1) “Newspaper of general circulation” means a newspaper that meets all of the following:

a. Is published at least on a weekly basis.

b. Is distributed throughout a county.

c. Is published in the language most commonly spoken in the area in which it circulates.

(2) “Newspaper of general circulation” does not include any of the following:

a. A newspaper intended primarily for members of a particular professional or occupational group.

b. A newspaper whose primary function is to carry legal notices.

(3) “Proposed

“proposed

amendment” means the full text of the legislation proposing an amendment to the Delaware Constitution.

(b)

The notice required for a proposed amendment

To comply with the dissemination requirement

under § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware

Constitution must occur as follows:

(1) The proposed amendment must be published not more than 120 days before the next general election and not less than 90 days before the next general election in at least 1 newspaper of general circulation in each county.

(2) The proposed amendment must

Constitution, the proposed amendment must

be posted for at least the 90 days before the next general election prominently on the Department of Elections’ and General Assembly’s websites.

(c) The individual responsible for ensuring dissemination of the proposed amendment under subsection (b) of this section is as follows:

(1) The Secretary of the Senate, for an amendment proposed by a Senate bill.

(2) The Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, for an amendment proposed by a House bill.

(d) The Secretary of the Senate, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, State Election Commissioner, and Director of the Division of Legislative Services shall review and approve the notice to be disseminated under subsection (b) of this section.

(e) (1) The individual responsible for

the

dissemination under subsection (c) of this section shall provide immediate notice of

doing so

the dissemination

to all of the following:

a. The Governor.

b. The members of the General Assembly.

c. The Director and the Librarian of the Division of Legislative Services.

d. The State Archivist and Records Administrator.

(2) The notice provided under paragraph (e)(1) of this section must include

all of the following:

a. A list of the newspapers in which the publication of the proposed amendment required under paragraph (b)(1) of this section occurred and the date of publication in those newspapers.

b. The

the

place within the websites in which the posting required under

paragraph (b)(2)

subsection (b)

of this section is to be found and the date of the posting.

SYNOPSIS

This Act amends the procedure for disseminating to the public a proposed amendment to the Delaware Constitution by eliminating the requirement that the dissemination through publication in a newspaper.

Removing this requirement is expected to result in cost savings for the State, while still requiring the posting on state websites to ensure continued public accessibility.