Journals of the Delaware General Assembly

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The Delaware General Assembly, created by the Delaware Constitution in 1776, is the legislative body for the state of Delaware. Consisting of a lower chamber, the Delaware State House of Representatives, and an upper chamber, the Delaware State Senate, the General Assembly convenes in January of every odd-numbered year to conduct the business of the state. Each assembly consists of two sessions, the first running from January to June of each odd-numbered year, the second running from January to June of even-numbered years. As of 2017, the House of Representatives consists of 41 proportionally-elected state representatives, and the Senate consists of 21 proportionally-elected state senators.

The powers of the General Assembly has been modified with changes to the Delaware Constitution in 1792, 1831 and 1897, and the Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims (1965). Article II, § 10 of the Delaware Constitution requires that “Each [chamber] shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and publish the same immediately after every session… The names of the members voting for and against any bill or joint resolution… and the yeas and nays of the members on any question shall, at the desire of any member, be entered on the journal.”

The two collections of journals document the work of the Delaware State House of Representatives from 1835 to 2015, and the Delaware State Senate from 1831 to 2005. Each journal records the attendance, bill title, vote tally and other proceedings from the official sessions of each chamber.

For more information, visit http://legis.delaware.gov/.

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