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.
Delaware’s controversial hospital cost review board will hold a public meeting this week.
So will power utility regulators who may approve rate increases, and transportation planners who will discuss Delaware’s biggest infrastructure project.
Beyond the state bureaucracy, lawmakers will also have a busy week as they enter a 7-week sprint to the end of the legislative session. Next week, lawmakers will consider dozens of bills, including ones that would do the following:
- expand a gun control law;
- allow electric scooters on Delaware roads;
- prohibit self-driving heavy trucks on Delaware roads;
- prohibit local police from detaining people based on suspected citizenship status;
- mandate that the state create a website that shows the amount of PFAS chemicals that exist in public drinking water systems.
Healthcare costs
Members of the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board will meet in New Castle on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to discuss proposals to regulate spending at local hospitals. The meeting is occurring even as a lawsuit brought by Delaware largest hospital system, Christiana Care Inc., threatens to dissolve the authority of the group charged with reducing healthcare costs in the state.
For information about attending the meeting virtually or in person, click here.
DelDOT
On Monday at 6 p.m., transportation planners will hold a virtual webinar to discuss a highway project that last year they called the biggest infrastructure project in the state. The I-95/SR-896 interchange project also could cost taxpayers $284 million, according to the Newark Post.
To register for the virtual meeting, click here. You can also read more on a Delaware Department of Transportation website dedicated to the project here.
On Tuesday at 10 a.m., DelDOT officials who sit on the state’s Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund will meet to discuss a grant application submitted by the REACH Riverside Development Corp. an entity that has received considerable state support over the years to redevelop a struggling Wilmington neighborhood.
A request Spotlight Delaware sent to DelDOT on Friday for details about the grant application is pending.
REACH Riverside says on its website that the group is “replacing 293 units of 1950s era public housing with 700 high-quality, mixed income rental units, making a portion of homes available for affordable ownership.”
For information about attending the meeting virtually or in person, click here.
Utility bills
The Delaware Public Service Commission, which regulates power and water utilities in the state, will meet on Wednesday at 1 p.m.
A string of proposals are listed on the commission agenda, including a request from Chesapeake Utilities to raise its distribution rates in Delaware, a request from Veolia Water to raise water rates, and applications from Artesian Water and Tidewater Utilities to expand water services to new areas.
The commission will also vote on whether to approve Delmarva Power’s regular request to apply a tariff on customers bills based on electricity it purchases from state-subsidized Bloom Energy.
For information about attending the meeting virtually or in person, click here.
The General Assembly
On Tuesday starting at 2 p.m., the full Senate will meet to discuss 10 bills, including one that would require state health officials to create a website “where Delaware residents can find out the level of PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” in their public drinking water systems.”
The bill follows a decade of revelations about the toxicity of the compound that was produced for generations by DuPont and other large chemical manufactures.
The full Senate will also hear a bill that would expand Delaware’s “red flag” law, which allows a judge to issue an order preventing a person from possessing a gun when “a family member or law enforcement officer can show that the respondent poses a danger to self or others.”
The current law, which former-Gov. John Carney signed in 2018, allows a court order to last for one year. The new bill would allow the order to stretch for five years.
You can watch the Senate hearing live here.
Also on Tuesday at 11 a.m., the House Public Safety & Homeland Security Meeting Notice will consider a bill that would make it legal for people to ride electric scooters on Delaware roads. The sponsor, Rep. Cyndie Romer (D-Newark), said in a Facebook post that the bill would allow e-scooters on “streets, bike lanes, and multi-use paths (but NOT sidewalks).”
Click here for information about attending the committee meeting virtually or in person.
Wednesday will be the busiest legislative day next week with 17 committee meetings taking place.
Among those will be a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee, which will consider two bills that would constrain the state from cooperating with federal immigration officials. One would prevent local police from detaining people based on their suspected immigration status. The other would require the Delaware Department of Justice to submit reports to lawmakers and the governor describing requests received from the federal government about state services tailored to undocumented immigrants.
Click here for information about attending the committee meeting virtually or in person.
