Opinion ID: 2550843
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Are Sections 5 and 6 of SB 84 Effective Law?

Text: As a predicate matter, this Court must first determine whether (uncodified) Sections 5 and 6 of SB 84 constitute operative Delaware law. Both Smith and Guest agree that they do. The Family Court held that in interpreting SB 84, it was not required to consider Sections 5 and 6, because although those Sections were included in the Historical and Statutory Notes of the final statute, they were not included in the codified text. [22] In so ruling, the Family Court erred. The General Assembly enacted SB 84 in its entirety, not just Sections 1-4. [23] That the Revisors (the Delaware Code's editors) [24] decided not to codify Sections 5 and 6 of SB 84 does not render those sections legally nugatory or ineffective. The Code expressly states that the Revisors shall not alter the sense, meaning or effect of any act of the General Assembly.... [25] One possible explanation for their failure to codify is that the Revisors believed Sections 5 and 6 to be construction clauses [26] whose omission was required by 1 Del. C. § 211(b). [27] But, even if that were the case, Sections 5 and 6 cannot be disregarded in interpreting SB 84, because to do so would ignore the General Assembly's express intent. [28] In Elliott v. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Delaware, this Court held that the Revisors' failure to incorporate [an] amendment into the 1974 revised Code does not void it. Having been duly passed by the General Assembly and signed by the Governor, the amendment is law. [29] Although Sections 5 and 6 of SB 84 did not amend any particular section of the Code, the Elliott rationale applies here with equal force. Once enacted by the legislature and signed by the Governor, the entirety of the bill becomes effective Delaware law. Having determined that the entirety of the enacted bill, including Sections 5 and 6, must be considered in interpreting SB 84, we turn to the merits of Smith's constitutionality claims.