Legislative Council supports statute and regulatory changes for Registrar of Regulations

The Legislative Council voted to support draft changes to the Registrar of Regulations' governing statute and related regulations, the council said during its public meeting.

Yvette Smallwood, the Registrar of Regulations, told the council the draft statute would "align the editorial powers of the Registrar of Regulations Office with those of the Delaware Code Revisors as it relates to gendered language in the regulations" and would "revise the submission and publication schedule" so agencies submit earlier and the register publishes later. Smallwood said the register will continue to be published online and that printed copies will be made available on request, but the statutory requirement to provide copies to state daily newspapers would be removed.

Assistant Registrar Bridal Schrader described the regulation-side updates as largely style and timing clarifications: "Most of the changes in the draft ... are style changes that make the regulation consistent with our style manual," she said, and other adjustments clarify how to calculate public-comment periods and when a proposed regulation must be formally withdrawn by publication in the register.

Council members asked whether hard copies would still be produced; Smallwood said the register will still be printed but fuller documents will be accessible online. Mark Catrona, director of the Division of Legislative Services, warned the flip in dates requires a technical change to the RMS system and staff are working with IT to implement it. Catrona said the office hopes the measure could be passed and signed before July but acknowledged the timing was uncertain.

Senator Sikola moved that the council "support the changes to the Registrar of Regulations, statute, and regulation as presented." After a roll call, the chair announced "9 yes, 1 absent" (Senator Lockman absent) and the motion passed.

What it means: If implemented, the change will standardize processing windows for agencies and the Registrar's office by moving the agency submission deadline earlier and the register's publication date later, allow limited editorial updates to gendered language consistent with the Code Revisors' powers, and remove a statutory requirement to distribute printed copies directly to state daily newspapers while keeping online publication and copies-on-request.

Next steps: The Registrar's office and legislative staff will coordinate the technical RMS changes required to flip the dates; the office indicated it would follow the usual bill-introduction, committee, and enactment process for the statute and regulation changes.

Vote at a glance: Motion to support statute and regulation changes — passed (roll call announced: 9 yes, 1 absent).