Why Should Delaware Care?
Government works best when its citizens are knowledgeable and engaged. Delaware’s government has scores of commissions, working groups, agencies and legislative committees. All must hold meeting that are open to the public.
With Delaware lawmakers back from a spring recess, legislative hearings are among the most pressing Delaware public meetings scheduled for this week.
Legislators will discuss a bill to require transparency from the regional power grid, a controversial plan to build a new legislative parking garage, and proposals to track federal investigators’ potential searches of state immigrant databases.
Beyond the legislature, Sussex and New Castle counties will hold budget hearings in what is shaping up to be a tight 2026 fiscal year.
How much for lawmakers to park?
On Monday, the Legislative Building Committee, which includes lawmakers and legislative staffers, will discuss a proposal to build a multimillion-dollar parking garage next to Delaware’s capitol building.
The meeting will occur Monday at 11 a.m. in the House Majority Hearing Room. The public can also participate virtually by signing up here.
The meeting will be broadcast on the legislature’s website.
The meeting comes about a month after Democratic legislative leaders said in a statement that construction on the garage project would begin later this year.
In the statement, the lawmakers also said they would pause their parallel plan to renovate the Legislative Hall building, citing “new funding challenges,” including a $38 million federal cut in public health funding to the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services.
The cost of both parallel projects had previously been reported at $150 million. The cost of the garage alone is not immediately clear.
Money for Delaware schools
Delaware’s Public Education Funding Commission will meet on Monday, one week after publicly unveiling a new “hybrid” school funding formula that was intended to show how the state may overhaul how it distributes money to schools. The proposal produced as many questions as answers.
The commission meeting will occur at 4 p.m. Monday in the House Majority Hearing Room. The public can also participate virtually by signing up here. The meeting will be broadcast on the legislature’s website here.
Immigration, electricity and taxing the richest
On Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., the House Judiciary Committee will meet to consider three bills, including one that would require the state Department of Justice to submit quarterly reports to lawmakers and the governor detailing requests from federal officials to state police officers. Those requests could be related to state programs and services used by undocumented immigrants, or related to the detention of people based on suspicion of their immigration status.
The committee hearing will take place at the House Majority Hearing Room at Legislative Hall in Dover.
The meeting can also be virtually attended here or watched online.
Also on Wednesday, but at 1 p.m., the House Revenue and Finance Committee will consider a bill that would increase tax rates for the richest people in Delaware and lower them slightly for the lowest-income earners.
The committee hearing will take place in the House Majority Hearing Room at Legislative Hall. The meeting can also be virtually attended here or watched online.
On Wednesday at 3 p.m., the Senate Judiciary Committee will consider advancing three gubernatorial nominees to the full Senate for consideration.
Last month, Gov. Matt Meyer nominated Gerard Spadaccini to serve as a Court of Common Pleas judge; Joshua Sanderlin to serve as Delaware’s Marijuana Commissioner; and Jameson Tweedie to serve as the Public Advocate responsible for challenging utility rate hikes.
In recent months, Meyer’s nominees to a board that oversees the Port of Wilmington became the biggest political firestorm of the legislative year.
The hearing will take place in the Senate Chamber at Legislative Hall in Dover. To attend virtually, register here. To watch the livestream, go here.
Finally, on Wednesday at 4 p.m. the House Natural Resources & Energy will consider Senate Bill 61, which would require Delaware’s regional power grid operating company to disclose details about the votes cast at its meetings.
The legislation joins similar bills in other states in the region and follows recent outrage over rising electricity prices. Much of that outrage has been directed at the power grid operator, PJM Interconnection, for moving slowly in recent years on approving the construction of new power plants.
The committee hearing will take place at the House Majority Hearing Room at Legislative Hall in Dover
The meeting can also be virtually attended here or watched online here.
County budgets
New Castle and Sussex counties will each hold meetings to discuss their budgets for what is making out to be a financially diffucult fiscal year 2026.
Sussex County will hold its budget workshop on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sussex County Public Safety Complex, located at 21911 Rudder Lane in Georgetown.
Two days later, the New Castle County Council will hold a budget hearing on Thursday at 2 p.m. for seven of its offices, including its influential land use department.
The meeting will take place on the first floor of the city/county building, located at 800 North French Street in Wilmington.
Wilmington redevelopment
The Wilmington Land Bank will discuss its multimillion-dollar renovation work on a local mansion at a public meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Delaware Art Museum.
The meeting was scheduled after Wilmington City Council criticized what will be a nearly $3 million commitment of taxpayer dollars to the renovation.
