DelawareLive Feb 19

Delaware LIVE Weekly Review – Feb. 19, 2023

Sonja FreyDelaware Live, Weekly Review

Click on the image below to view as a PDF This Week’s Top Headlines Include: Headlines JFC asks for return on investment on educational spending Educator pay committee delays salary vote over budget, timeline State Chamber: Proposed family leave rules ‘very unclear’ Culture Screening Room movie theater opens in downtown Wilmington New group wants to preserve Brandywine Hundred history UD …

The Legislature's Joint Finance Committee listen to a presentation by the Delaware Department of Education. (Jarek Rutz photo)

JFC asks for return on investment on educational spending

Jarek RutzEducation, Government, Headlines

Several members of the Joint Finance Committee asked the Department of Education officials on Wednesday when and if they would ever see a return on the state’s investment in public education. Student achievement metrics like standardized test scores have fallen off a cliff over the past decade and the state still faces a teacher shortage. Education Secretary Mark Holodick and …

(Rodnae Productions photo from Pexels)

JFC: Department of Correction focuses on hiring more officers

Staff WriterGovernment, Headlines

S Staff retention in Delaware’s prison system was an important issue at Wednesday’s Joint Finance Committee budget hearing. Monroe Hudson, the commissioner of the Delaware Department of Correction, told Sen. Laura Sturgeon, a Democrat who represents the Greenville area, that he thinks the department has made progress since 2017. It now has 2,647 full-time employees, the most since at least …

School Bus

Pay hike for school bus drivers wins preliminary approval

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

The committee responsible for drafting the state’s budget has approved an increase in funding for Delaware’s public school bus drivers. The Joint Finance Committee, comprised of eight Democrats and four Republicans, voted last week to add $16.9 million to address recommendations from the Public School Transportation Committee, a group consisting of legislative and state budget officials, public and charter school …

Tax Credit

Committee votes to raise senior property tax credit

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

The committee responsible for drafting the state’s budget has voted to restore the senior property tax credit to its pre-2017 level. The credit was cut from $500 to $400 per year in 2017 in an effort to close a budget shortfall that year. Currently, the program allows homeowners ages 65 and over to claim a tax credit against regular school …

Delaware state budget tops $1.5 billion

Lawmakers OK state worker pay raises, $500 bonus

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

The General Assembly’s budget-writing committee on Tuesday approved raises for state workers. Under the governor’s proposed budget, employees on the lower end of the pay scale would get the most significant boost in pay. The Joint Finance Committee approved the increases during its first day of “markup,” a period during which the committee takes the governor’s recommended budget and votes …

Labor Dept. says fraud behind many unemployment delays

Charlie MegginsonGovernment, Headlines

After Milford resident Candice Hamilton was let go from her health care job in November 2021 she immediately filed for unemployment.  After receiving her benefits for three weeks, the payments stopped.  In late December, Hamilton was told by a Department of Labor caseworker that her claim is in a queue awaiting assignment to a claims deputy and that there was …