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 meetings that are open to the public. Below we highlight a few of those meetings that are happening this week.
Below are some of the most important or interesting public meetings happening around the state this week.
- Senate hearing to discuss controversial health care funding reform
- DEFAC forecasters to set bounds of budget negotiations
- Education secretary to announce Sussex charter school’s future
- Sussex County to consider moratorium on clusters of homes in rural areas
- Wilmington mayor to present his budget; Kent County to hold a public workshop on its budget
- Police accountability meetings in Dover and Wilmington
Senate to discuss hospital price controls
Delaware senators will begin formal discussions this week on what has already become the most hotly debated bill of the legislative session.
On Wednesday, the Senate Health and Social Services Committee will consider Senate Bill 1, which would impose limits on the rates some large insurance companies pay to reimburse hospitals for health services.
Already, lobbying against the bill has spilled out of Legislative Hall and into online ads paid for by the Delaware Healthcare Association. In one ad, the hospital industry group calls on viewers to “say no to SB 1.”
This week’s hearing comes months after Delaware ended a fight over another measure meant to rein in hospital costs. Last fall, Delaware agreed to remove a state hospital board’s key enforcement tool that had given it authority to veto hospital budgets officials deemed excessive.
The state agreed to do so as part of a settlement it reached with ChristianaCare, which had sued the state, calling the board’s authority “draconian.”
The hospital system – Delaware largest and most influential – also claimed last year that the board’s veto authority would cause “further erosion to the integrity and viability of the (Delaware) corporate franchise.” The remarks piggybacked on criticism being lobbed at Delaware at the time by Elon Musk and several other executives in tech and finance.
Now Senate Bill 1, introduced by Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, is a new referendum on hospital pricing in a state that has some of the highest health care costs in the country.
The legislation would set reimbursement ceilings on the rates insurance companies carrying plans for state employees and some commercial entities pay to hospitals.
Health care providers generally earn the bulk of their revenue by negotiating with insurers who represent large groups of patients. The negotiations determine how much the insurer will pay for health care services, and in turn the costs that will be passed onto patients.
📍 The Senate Health and Social Services will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Legislative Hall, located at 411 Legislative Ave., in Dover. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Lawmakers will also consider 20 other bills or resolutions this week, according to legislative agendas.
Among those in front of various committees is a bill that would incentivize businesses to build gas-turbine electricity generators, and one that would cement rules that limit rent increases at mobile home parks.
Before the full Senate on Tuesday is a bill that would remove a cap on the number of households with solar panels that utilities can pay for excess electricity generated.
To view details of all hearings, scroll through the “What’s Happening” box here.
How much money will the state get next year?
Delaware’s budget forecasting committee – known by its acronym DEFAC – will release updated projections Monday for the amount of money the state could bring in during the next fiscal year.
The estimates will be used in the coming weeks for budget negotiations among lawmakers and with the governor over how much Delaware should spend of that sum.
In January, Gov. Matt Meyer based his $6.9 billion budget proposal off of DEFAC’s previous revenue estimates released at the end of last year. Those numbers showed a rosier picture than previously estimated – largely because of a change in tax law that insulated Delaware from some of the impacts of President Donald Trump’s federal spending legislation, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Since then, several significant global events have occurred – most notably the ongoing war between Iran and the United States and Israel. The war is already disrupting global oil supply chains, which could increase costs for Delaware beyond energy.
📍 The full council of DEFAC will meet Monday at 1 p.m. at the state’s Buena Vista property, located at 661 South DuPont Highway in New Castle. Click here for virtual details and for the meeting agenda.
Will Delaware close a Sussex County charter school?
Delaware Education Secretary Cindy Marten will announce Thursday whether the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence will lose its right to operate as a charter school in the state.
The scheduled announcement follows a months-long investigation by state officials into enrollment issues that have plagued the school. In February, those officials recommended that Marten revoke the school’s charter.
If she follows the recommendation, the closure would be the first for a Delaware charter school in seven years and the first closed by state regulators in a decade.
It would also leave Sussex County with just two charter schools, compared with six in Kent County and 15 in New Castle County.
📍 Marten will present her decision at a meeting of the Delaware State Board of Education, scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday. The meeting will occur at the John W. Colette Building, located at 35 Commerce Way, Suite 1, in Dover. For information about virtual participation, click here.
Sussex proposes moratorium on dense communities in rural areas
The Sussex County Council will discuss a proposal Tuesday to place a temporary moratorium on the construction of what officials call “cluster subdivisions” in rural areas.
Councilman John Rieley told The News Journal last week that the moratorium aims to stop a “land rush,” in which developers race to submit applications before new ordinances governing those denser types of communities can be passed and take effect.
Among reforms being considered in Delaware’s fastest-growing county is a proposal to loosen restrictions on a county program that incentivizes affordable rental units, and one to increase open space requirements in dense developments.
📍 The Sussex County Council will hold its weekly meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Sussex County Administrative Office Building, located at 2 The Circle in Georgetown. For more information, including about virtual attendance, click here.
Wilmington, Kent County governments to discuss upcoming budgets
It’s budget season for Delaware’s cities and counties too, and this week Wilmington and Kent County will hold public meetings focused on how they will spend money next year.
In Wilmington, Mayor John Carney will formally present his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2027 — which begins in July — in a speech to the City Council.
Last year, the city’s budget included a 6.5% increase in water and sewer fees, and more dollars to the Wilmington Fire Department so it could take over ambulance services in the city. Ultimately, 11 members of the City Council voted to approve that budget while two voted against it.
📍 The Wilmington City Council will meet for Carney’s budget address at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Old Town Hall, located at 512 North Market Street in Wilmington. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
For Kent Countians, there will be a public workshop hosted by the county to discuss the proposed capital budget and public safety budget for the 2027 fiscal year.
Last year, the county budget passed with no public comments made – neither on the 12 resolutions attached to the budget nor on the budget ordinance itself, according to a report from Delaware Public Media.
Kent County Levy Court President Joanne Masten attributed the lack of public comment to what she described as the county’s careful stewardship of public money, the report stated.
📍 The Kent County Levy Court will meet for the workshop at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Kent County Administrative Complex, located at 555 Bay Road in Dover. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Police boards in Delaware’s largest cities to meet
Officials in Wilmington and Dover also will be meeting this week for their cities’ respective police oversight boards.
Such boards were created in Delaware in the months and years after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
During Wilmington’s meeting, officials will review past community engagement events and discuss a recommendation report, among other agenda items.
In Dover, the board will discuss community meetings, and complaints, according to its agenda. Following the meeting, new members of the Dover Police Advisory Board will participate in a mandatory training session.
📍 The Wilmington Community Police Accountability Board will meet at 1 p.m. Monday at the Third Floor Conference Room in the Louis L. Redding City/County Building, located at 800 N. French St. in Wilmington. For details about virtual attendance, click here.
📍 The Dover Police Advisory Board will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Dover PD’s Hutchison Public Assembly Room, located at 400 S. Queen St. in Dover. No virtual information is listed for the meeting. The agenda states that individuals who wish to be recognized during public comment should notify Rebecca McNamara at 302-736-7100.