HB 440

This Act is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution to authorize the General Assembly to hold a referendum on a proposed constitutional amendment in lieu of repassage by the next General Assembly. This Act also provides that constitutional amendments must be limited to a single subject, expressed in the bill’s title, like other bills enacted by the General Assembly (Section 16 of Article II of the Delaware Constitution). Because House Bill No. 320 of the 153rd General Assembly also proposes amendments to Section 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution, Sections 2 through 4 of this Act reconcile the interaction between House Bill No. 320 and this Act so that both this Act and House Bill No. 320 can both take effect if both are enacted by this and the next General Assembly. Amending the Delaware Constitution requires not only the passing of the changes in this Act, but also passage of the same changes after the next general election by the next General Assembly. This Act requires a greater than majority vote for passage because § 1 of Article XVI of the Delaware Constitution requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to amend the Delaware Constitution.