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.
- Lawmakers to discuss public school funding
- Lawmakers to mull mental health insurance coverage
- Georgetown to elect first new mayor in more than a decade
- Municipal budget talks continue in New Castle, Sussex
Lawmakers to take up school funding question
The Senate Education Committee will discuss two bills on Tuesday that could change how Delaware funds its schools.
Senate Bill 302, sponsored by State Sen. Laura Sturgeon (D- Brandywine Hundred), would enable the state Department of Education to begin implementing the hybrid public school funding model that was approved last year by the Public Education Funding Commission.
The hybrid model would send more money to schools with large numbers of low-income students or English-language learners. According to SB 302, the model would take effect in the 2028 fiscal year.
The bill also establishes a hold-harmless provision, meaning no school would receive less funding in the 2028 fiscal year than it will have received in 2027.
Sturgeon, who is the chair of the PEFC, also introduced Senate Bill 303, which makes the commission a permanent body to continue studying and evaluating the state’s funding formula in the years to come.
📍 The Senate Education Committee is scheduled to meet at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday inside Legislative Hall, located at 411 Legislative Ave. in Dover. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Lawmakers to mull mental health care coverage
Another State Senate committee will meet Tuesday to discuss legislation that would expand mental healthcare access in the state.
The Senate Health & Social Services Committee will discuss Senate Bill 22, which would codify federal mental health insurance coverage protections into Delaware law.
Introduced by Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend (D-Glasgow), the bill aims to implement provisions of the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which protects patients with private insurance from being denied for behavioral health treatments.
In 2024, the Biden administration widened the law’s protections, leading to lawsuits from insurance trades groups. Following the 2024 election, the Trump administration seems unlikely to enforce the Biden-era changes.
📍 The Senate Health & Social Services Committee is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Tuesday inside Legislative Hall, located at 411 Legislative Ave. in Dover. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Georgetown to hold municipal elections
Georgetown residents on Saturday will elect their first new mayor in more than a decade, after Mayor Bill West announced he would not seek reelection earlier this spring.
As the Sussex County seat has grown increasingly divided in recent months over the widespread impacts of homelessness, the upcoming May 9 election will be the first real litmus test of how Georgetown residents want their leaders to handle key issues.
A three-way race for Georgetown’s next leader has quickly heated up between a former town council member and two candidates new to town politics.
The election could be a chance for a candidate supported by a passionate Facebook group of residents opposed to the current town government to take the helm. Conversely, it could be the first time a member of Georgetown’s Latino community – which comprises roughly half the town’s population – takes the mayor’s seat.
Along with electing a new mayor, residents will also vote for two city council members.
📍 Georgetown’s municipal elections will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Town Hall, located at 37 The Circle, in Georgetown. In order to vote in the election, residents must register with the Sussex County Department of Elections by Wednesday, May 6.
County budget talks to continue in New Castle, Sussex
Leaders of Delaware’s northern- and southern-most counties will continue planning their respective budgets for the next fiscal year this week.
Though no formal votes will be taken during either meeting, both are a chance for residents to hear from elected officials about how they are planning for the future.
Sussex County Council will hold its budget workshop at 9 a.m. Tuesday, forgoing a regular council meeting to focus solely on the county’s budget for the next fiscal year.
In New Castle County, council members will meet at 2 p.m. Thursday to discuss the budgets for specific departments, including the county auditor and the Department of Community Services, which operates the Hope Center, among other programs.
📍 Sussex County Council is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Sussex County Public Safety Complex, located at 21911 Rudder Lane in Georgetown. For more details click here.
📍 New Castle County Council is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Thursday at the Louis L. Redding City County Building, located at 800 North French St. in Wilmington. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Reporters Julia Merola, Maggie Reynolds and Nick Stonesifer contributed to this report.
