DOVER – State legislators would be required to continuously reside in the districts they are elected to represent under a constitutional amendment the House unanimously passed on Thursday.
The Delaware Constitution requires that General Assembly candidates reside in the representative or senatorial districts they wish to represent for a full year before Election Day. However, there is no requirement that once elected, the legislator maintain a fulltime residence in that district – only that they meet the yearlong residency requirement before the following election if they are running for another term.
Sponsored by Rep. Paul Baumbach, House Bill 77 would require legislators to continuously reside in their districts for the entirety of their terms. If they move out of their district before their term ends, the lawmaker would be “deemed to have resigned the office.”
“Delawareans elect people from the communities in which they live to represent them and their interests in Dover. The entire idea is that by living in those communities, representatives and senators can better raise issues that affect those areas and advocate for solutions,” said Rep. Baumbach, D-Newark North. “It should be a basic tenet that members live in their districts for the entire time they’re in office, which is why we are enshrining it in the Delaware Constitution.”
The measure includes a once-a-decade exception for sitting legislators who change their residence to live within the boundaries of newly drawn districts through the redistricting process. Redistricting is a federally required process where legislative districts are redrawn based on the latest decennial census. Lines can move enough that sitting members are effectively moved out of their current districts. This provision would provide an exception for members who move out of their current district into the new one to meet the one-year residency requirement.
“This issue, unlike many that we tackle in Legislative Hall, is extremely straightforward. Elected officials should live in the district they were elected to represent,” said Sen. Kyle Evans Gay, the HB 77’s lead Senate sponsor. “I look forward to swiftly passing HB 77 in the Senate and sending it to Governor Carney’s desk.”
Constitutional amendments require a 2/3 majority in each chamber and must pass in identical form in consecutive General Assemblies. During the 151st General Assembly last year, the legislature passed House Bill 395.
HB 77 now heads to the Senate for consideration. If the Senate passes the measure, the amendment will be incorporated into the Delaware Constitution. No signature from the governor is required.
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