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 you will find information about the most important or interesting public meetings happening in Delaware this week.
- Senators to consider primary healthcare reforms
- DEFAC meets post-Houghton firing
- Sussex County’s plans for its future
- Port of Wilmington update on cost overruns
Senators to consider an amended primary care reform bill
The Senate is set to finally consider primary healthcare reforms on Tuesday, after amendments to the highly anticipated Senate Bill 1 were released late last week. Lawmakers and lobbyists negotiated amendments to the bill for nearly two months.
The biggest changes made to SB 1 – which would set price caps on how high Delaware hospital systems can negotiate costs with insurers – would create a phased and more specific process for implementing those price caps.
By taking aim at how high Delaware healthcare providers can negotiate their prices with insurers, in addition to making those insurers spend 11.5% of their medical costs on primary care, the state hopes to better compensate providers proactively working to improve Delawareans’ health outcomes.
In its original form, SB 1 capped the amount of money a provider could be reimbursed by insurers at 250% of what the federal government pays providers through Medicare.
The amended bill creates a tiered structure for those price caps based on the type of service being provided, delineating costs for inpatient and outpatient services. The bill also now includes a phased timeline, creating a longer runway for hospitals to reach that 250% Medicare price cap.
Another big change in the amended version of SB1 expands price cap exemptions for certain types of hospitals. The legislation now includes more specific pathways for rural hospitals that depend largely on Medicare along with urban hospitals that depend largely on Medicaid to become exempt from adhering to the state’s proposed 250% price cap.
📍 The Senate is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday inside Legislative Hall, located at 411 Legislative Ave. in Dover. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Separate from SB 1, Delaware lawmakers will consider a slew of other bills in legislative committees this week as they continue their final sprint toward the end of the 153rd General Assembly on June 30, including proposals that would:
- Increase the number of patients eligible to receive free treatment from the state’s nonprofit hospitals.
- Regulate how hemp products are bought, sold and consumed in Delaware
- Double the childcare and dependent care expense tax credit for certain Delawareans.
📍 Delaware residents can attend committee hearings in person or participate virtually through the General Assembly’s online meeting system. To view details of all hearings, scroll through the “What’s Happening” box here.
DEFAC meets post-Houghton firing
Also this week, Delaware’s budget forecasting committee will meet for the first time since Gov. Matt Meyer fired a longtime member who had criticized the administration’s reports of revenue flowing from the state’s prominent corporate franchise.
The firing of the member, Mike Houghton, sparked a backlash from lawmakers who claimed it amounted to “undue political interference.”
Established in the 1980s, the committee – the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Committee, or DEFAC – periodically forecasts the amount of money Delaware could bring in annually from taxes and fees. Those figures are crucial to budget negotiations carried out each spring between lawmakers and the governor’s office.
DEFAC’s meeting this week will be particularly consequential because it will be the last before the state’s Joint Finance Committee begins writing the government’s operating budget a week later in a process known as a markup.
Given the controversy surrounding Houghton’s firing, DEFAC’s next revenue estimates for Delaware’s Division of Corporations, which oversees the state’s sprawling, and lucrative, corporate franchise – could either dampen or fuel criticisms of the state over its role as a favored legal home for corporations.
The Delaware corporate franchise generates about a third of Delaware’s general fund revenue.
In recent months, the Meyer administration has publicly celebrated a jump in the number of companies that domicile in Delaware to 2.2 million entities. But several big-name companies have also left Delaware over the past year in favor of states that largely limit shareholders’ ability to sue businesses and their leaders.
📍 DEFAC is scheduled to meet at 1 p.m. Monday at the Buena Vista estate, which is owned by the state government and located at 661 S. DuPont Highway in New Castle. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
The future of Sussex County development
The Sussex County Council is getting ready to vote on reforms that could change the course of development in southern Delaware.
On Tuesday, the council will host hearings on ordinances that would change the county’s affordable housing program, open space requirements and density limits.
In particular, Ordinance 2026-01 would raise limits on rent, and lower the required number of affordable units for a housing development to qualify for a county program that incentivizes developers to build affordable rental units, specifically in areas near the Delaware beaches.
The program has only brought in two projects in the last 20 years, and county officials hope changing the requirements will accelerate the construction of more affordable housing.
The ordinances came from recommendations of the Sussex County Land Use Reform Working Group, tasked by County Council with coming up with ways the county could ease the impact ongoing growth has had on affordability, road conditions, services and the environment.
📍 The Sussex County Council is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. on Tuesday inside the Sussex County Administrative Office Building, located at 2 The Circle in Georgetown. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Separate from its County Council meeting, Sussex County also will hold a public workshop Tuesday to discuss a proposal that could make a stretch of U.S. Route 9 west of Route 1 an area targeted for growth.
The workshop follows a governor’s executive order, issued in January, that directs state officials to, among other things, conduct a coordinated planning effort with Sussex County to define land-use plans for certain corridors, ahead of the county’s comprehensive plan update process.
📍 The workshop is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Cheer Community Center, located at 20520 Sand Hill Road in Georgetown. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
Port of Wilmington leaders to meet
Last month, Delaware Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez revealed that her office would negotiate with the Port of Wilmington’s private operator, Enstructure, over how to close a $185 million funding gap for construction of a new container terminal in Edgemoor.
This week, the state’s port oversight board will meet to discuss a resolution that would amend Delaware’s and Enstructure’s joint operating agreement, which outlines how each party is to fund the state’s port and oversee its expansion.
While it is not certain the amendment relates to a potential deal over the cost overruns, state officials have repeatedly expressed their desire to expedite the Edgemoor expansion following years of delays.
Last month, Patibanda-Sanchez said she expected the negotiations to happen in good faith “and hopefully very quickly.”
📍 The Diamond State Port Corporation is scheduled to meet at 8 a.m. Friday at the state’s Buena Vista estate, located at 661 South DuPont Highway. For more details, including information about virtual attendance, click here.
