Gov. John Carney‘s proposed 2025 state budget of $6.1 billion pours $2.1 billion into education, $2 billion on healthcare for employees, retirees and Medicaid recipients, and $129 million into environmental initiatives. It’s another record state budget, up nearly 9% from 2024’s $5.6 billion. Nearly 65% of the growth in the budget over last year’s is salary policy and health-related costs, …
Delaware can expect a revenue surplus of $364.8 million heading into the 2025 fiscal year. It can also expect a few years of plateaued revenues instead of the nearly $1 billion surpluses of recent years. Some legislators would argue the state doesn’t have surplus in reality, because that money will be needed for expected rises in costs for a number …
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved a bill that would lower licensing fees for casinos that make capital investments. Senate Bill 64, sponsored by Sen. Trey Paradee, D-Dover, would allow the casinos, which under a 2018 bill were required to pay a $3 million license fee to operate table games, to forgo portions of that fee if they pay for …
The Delaware General Assembly did not go to the dogs Wednesday. The dogs came to them. Four lucky pooches who were up for adoption or had been adopted from shelters sat through part of a Senate hearing and then part of a Senate Session as Senate Bill 37, which would make the rescue dog the official state animal, passed in …
Delaware may have passed the peak of a rise in post-covid revenues, the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council heard Monday. Financial experts call that peak an “inflection point,” akin to that moment when roller-coaster riders feel a brief lift in their tummies before the coaster takes a plunge. That doesn’t mean the state’s finances will plunge. Only that they …
Calls to consider means testing before granting veteran and senior housing tax breaks shocked a legislative committee last month. Delawareâs secretary of finance doesnât think an income-based means test for property tax breaks is likely. Even so, Rick Geisenberger did say that a means test based on property values not only could happen, but should. âSeniors get a lot of …
A bill that would remove the three-year residency requirement to qualify for the Disabled Veteran Tax credit drew concerns in the House Education Committee Wednesday. Some members wanted an income limit or means test included in the bill. After a motion to table the bill failed, House Bill 30 was eventually released to the House floor. If passed, First State …
The state has distributed some 780,000 Relief Rebate checks, according to Delaware Secretary of Finance Rick Geisenberger. Approximately $15 million in rebate checks were mailed but never cashed, Geisenberger said during a Monday meeting of the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council. The 2022 Delaware Relief Rebate Program was passed by the General Assembly in April and authorized one-time direct …
Delaware state government retirees gathered in Wilmington Tuesday with a message for Gov. John Carney and his political appointees: âKeep your hands off our Medicare.â The crowd of mostly senior citizens planned to protest outside the Carvel State Office Building, where the governor, attorney general and New Castle County lawmakers have offices. Rain forced them indoors to the city and …
A bill to establish an âindependent and nonpartisanâ inspector general’s office moved forward Wednesday in a Delaware House committee. The House Administration Committee also moved along a bill to encourage filming in the state by offering tax credits. The committee started discussion to create a constitutional right of a clean environment, but, citing time, continued discussion to Thursdayâs committee meeting, …
