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SB 194 Delaware Senate · 150th General Assembly (2019-2020)

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 13 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO MARRIAGE LICENSE APPLICATION.

Summary
This Act removes the requirement that applicants for a marriage license state their race as part of the application process. Delaware is one of a small number of states that currently requires this information. In October 2019, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that requiring marriage license applicants to provide their race violates the United States Constitution. In Delaware, the Clerks of the Peace, who are the points of data collection, have expressed support for this Act, as has the Office of Vital Statistics in the Department of Health and Social Services. The National Center for Health Statistics ("NCHS") has not requested detailed information from states regarding marriage and divorce since 1996. NCHS only requires states to provide the total number of marriages that occur each month.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Dec 2019
Committee Review
Jan 2020
Senate Passage
Jan 2020
House Passage
Jun 2020
Signed into Law
Sep 2020
Introduced Dec 19, 2019 Signed Sep 28, 2020
Floor votes · House Jun 29, 2020

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
8
Key actions
5
Committee
2
Sep 28, 2020
Signed into law
Signed by Governor
executive
Jun 29, 2020
Lower · Passed
Passed By House. Votes: 41 YES
lower
Jan 22, 2020
Lower · Passed
Reported Out of Committee (Housing & Community Affairs) in House with 7 On Its Merits
lower
Jan 17, 2020
Introduced
Assigned to Housing & Community Affairs Committee in House
lower
Jan 16, 2020
Upper · Passed
Passed By Senate. Votes: 20 YES 1 ABSENT
upper
Jan 15, 2020
Upper · Passed
Reported Out of Committee (Health & Social Services) in Senate with 4 Favorable
upper
Dec 19, 2019
Introduced
Introduced and Assigned to Health & Social Services Committee in Senate
upper
4 primary · 26 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Bryan Townsend
Bryan Townsend
DDemocratic
DE
11
P
Photo of Kendra Johnson
Kendra Johnson
DDemocratic
DE
5
P
Photo of Paul Baumbach
Paul Baumbach
DDemocratic
DE
23
P
Photo of Stephanie Hansen
Stephanie Hansen
DDemocratic
DE
10
Co
AD
Anthony Delcollo
RRepublican
DE
7
Co
Photo of Brian Pettyjohn
Brian Pettyjohn
RRepublican
DE
19
Co
BC
Bruce C. Ennis
DDemocratic
DE
14
Co
Photo of Bryant Richardson
Bryant Richardson
RRepublican
DE
21
Co
CC
Catherine Cloutier
RRepublican
DE
5
Co
CB
Colin Bonini
RRepublican
DE
16
Co
Photo of Darius Brown
Darius Brown
DDemocratic
DE
2
Co
Photo of Dave Lawson
Dave Lawson
RRepublican
DE
15
Co
Photo of Dave Sokola
Dave Sokola
DDemocratic
DE
8
Co
Photo of Dave Wilson
Dave Wilson
RRepublican
DE
18