House of Representatives Legislative Session - Session 2 - 5th Legislative Day

Wednesday, January 21, 2026·1h 11m·▶ Watch / Listen

The Delaware House passed two health-focused concurrent resolutions — one recognizing nurses' rights and one designating a Maternal Health Awareness Day — with the latter requiring a roll call revote after a contentious floor debate over racial disparities in maternal mortality. The session also featured a tribute to the 2025 Class A state champion Middletown Cavaliers football team.

Key Actions

·HCR 84 – Recognizing Nursing Profession and Nurses' RightsPassed

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Controversies

Whether racial disparities in maternal mortality are primarily attributable to racism

Representative Collins argued: 'is somebody here telling me we had more racism today than we had in 1987? I'm not denying we have racism, but I hadn't heard anything about it being that much worse today than it was just in 1987,' and raised substance use disorder, incompetence, and inadequate physician reimbursement as alternative causes, adding that 'every time something doesn't go quite right to just start going to racism is not a positive thing.' Leader Harris responded that 'racism, just because it's a bit more hidden doesn't mean that it doesn't exist' and called it 'truly offensive to say that racism isn't something that we deal with on a regular basis.' Representative Gorman countered that racism is systemic and argued 'maybe there's not more racism now than there was in 1990, 1987, but there's more permission to express it.' Collins clarified: 'I did say I didn't say there wasn't racism. I said, there probably is not more today than there was in 1987. That's all.'

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Notable Quotes

“Non Hispanic black women have 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births. This underscores that no community is immune to these preventable outcomes and that culturally appropriate care and systemic supports are needed across all populations. But for black women, the statistics are so high, again, with maternal mortality being 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, which is more than three times higher than that of white women.”
Representative Kamala Smith — Smith was presenting HCR 83, which designates Maternal Health Awareness Day, and citing CDC and Delaware data on racial disparities in maternal mortality rates.

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Votes

Voice vote on House Concurrent Resolution Number 84 (Nursing Profession Resolution)Passed

Initial voice vote on House Concurrent Resolution Number 83 (Maternal Health Awareness Day)Passed

Voice vote on motion to revote on House Concurrent Resolution Number 83 (made by Representative Lynn)No Vote

Roll call revote on House Concurrent Resolution Number 83 (Maternal Health Awareness Day)Passed

Yes (34)Mrs. Berry, Ms. Bolden, Mr. Burns, Mr. Bush, Mr. Carson, Mr. Chukwuocha, Mr. Collins, Mr. Cook, Mr. Dukes, Ms. Gorman, Mrs. Griffith, Ms. Harris, Mrs. Heffernan, Mr. Hensley, Mr. Hilovsky, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Jones Giltner, Mr. Lambert, Mr. Lynn, Ms. Moore, Mr. Morrison, Mr. Morrison, Mix. Neal, Mr. Ortega, Mr. Osienski, Ms. Romer, Ms. Roslevin, Mr. Short, Mrs. Smith, Ms. Snyder Hall, Mr. Spiegelman, Mrs. Wilson Anton, Mr. Yearick, Madam Speaker

Absent (7)Mr. Gray, Ms. Phillips, Mr. Postles, Mr. Short, Mr. Smith, Mr. Vanderwin, Mrs. Williams

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TranscriptPreview

The house will come to order. Members and guests, please take your seats and silence your cell phone. Mr. Chief Clark, are there any communications? Not. Not at this time, Madam Speaker. Representative Bolden. Thank you, Madam Speaker. Marked present, please. No mileage. Ms. Bolden. From absent to present. No mileage. Representative Neal. Marked absent to present. No mileage. Please Mix. Neil. From absent. Present. No Milage. Representative Spiegelman. No. You're good. You're good. Okay, never mind. Thought you weren't here yesterday. Maybe I just didn't see you. Leader Harris. Thank you. Madam Speaker, I move that we adjourn the current legislative day. The house stands adjourned. The house will come to order. Mr. Chief Clerk Clark, please call the roll. Mrs. Barry. Present. Mrs. Berry. Present. Miss Bolden. Present. Miss Bolden. Present. Mr. Burns. Present. Mr. Burns. Present. Mr. Bush. Present. Mr. Bush. Present. Mr. Carson. Mr. Carson. Present. Mr. Chukwocha. Present. Mr. Chakocha. Present. Mr. Collins. Mr. Collins. Present. Mr. Cook. Present. Mr. Cook. Present. Mr. Dukes. Mr. Dukes. Present. Ms. Gorman. Ms. Gorman. Absent. Mr. Gray. Mr. Gray. Absent. Mrs. Griffith. Mrs. Griffith. Present. Ms. Harris. Ms. Harris. Present. Mrs. Heffernan. Mrs. Heffernan. Present. Mr. Hensley. Mr.…

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