Delaware lawmakers have approved the Delaware Climate Resilience and Infrastructure Grant Act, giving the measure a 96-4 final tally and moving it to the governor review stage.

The legislation, sponsored by Gov. Ellie Graham, would establish a competitive grant program funded annually to support flood mitigation and infrastructure upgrades. The program would prioritize applications based on documented risk, public safety, community need and transparency.

The vote was lopsided across the 100-seat legislature, with no members recorded as present rather than voting. The result gives the proposal broad legislative backing at a time when climate resilience, infrastructure reliability and the costs of preparing for extreme conditions remain prominent concerns for state and local governments.

The bill’s central approach is to direct funding through a competitive process rather than allocate resources automatically. That structure puts emphasis on demonstrating need and identifying projects with clear public-safety and risk-reduction purposes. Flood mitigation and infrastructure upgrades can cover overlapping challenges, particularly where aging systems and exposure to weather-related risks place pressure on communities.

The act also places transparency among its stated priorities. That provision makes the administration of grants a central accountability question as the measure advances. Lawmakers have approved the framework for the program, but the effectiveness of the policy will depend on how applications are evaluated and how funding decisions are communicated once the measure reaches implementation.

Graham, now in her second term leading Delaware, has backed the measure as part of the state’s approach to climate and infrastructure planning. The final legislative vote provides a clear indication that the proposal drew support well beyond a narrow bloc, even as climate policy often produces sharper divisions in broader national politics.

The measure now enters the governor review stage. Its passage marks a significant state-level development on climate resilience, but it does not by itself identify which communities or projects would receive grants. Those decisions would be shaped through the competitive program authorized by the legislation, using the priorities set out in the act.

The Delaware vote comes as water and infrastructure policy continues to generate legislative activity elsewhere. A rural water infrastructure and watershed resilience proposal in West Virginia has opened for a vote, while Kansas has seen the introduction of a water conservation and infrastructure grant proposal.

For Delaware, the decisive vote places the focus on the next step: whether the state’s grant framework can translate its stated priorities of risk reduction, public safety, community need and transparency into durable infrastructure investments.