DOVER, Del. (AP) — Budget bills for the fiscal year starting Sunday and farewells to departing lawmakers highlighted the final day of this year’s session of the Delaware legislature.
House and Senate members worked late into the night Saturday putting the final touches on the fiscal 2013 budget and considered a host of minor bills that had to be addressed before adjourning.
A $429 million capital budget passed both chambers unanimously with little discussion. The capital budget, which pays for construction, maintenance and renovation projects, authorizes $173 million for roads and other transportation projects and about $256 million for non-transportation projects, including $120 million for public schools. The spending plan also includes $36 million for economic development, including $30 million for the state’s strategic fund, which is used to assist businesses in locating or expanding in Delaware.
Lawmakers also approved a $44 million grants package for volunteer fire companies and other community organizations. The grant-in-aid bill, the third and smallest of state government’s three budget bills, includes $9 million for emergency medical services, $8 million for senior centers, $6 million for fire companies, and $3.7 million for family and youth services.
Following passage of the budget measures and a host of minor bills, the Senate adjourned at 12:34 a.m. Sunday. The House ended its session about 20 minutes later.
Lawmakers agreed earlier in the week on a $3.6 billion operating budget, with education and health and social services accounting for the bulk of the spending. The budget includes $1.2 billion for public schools and more than $1 billion for health and social services, including $622 million for Medicaid, an increase of more than $20 million from this year’s Medicaid spending.
“Folks, ya’ll can go home,” Gov. Jack Markell told lawmakers after signing the budget bills at 1:30 a.m.
Among the revisions made by the legislature’s budget-writing committee to the spending plan Markell proposed in January was a 1 percent pay raise for state employees, which will cost taxpayers about $21 million next year.
“It was not something that we were all that enthusiastic about,” Markell said earlier Saturday night.
Markell said he was pleased with this year’s legislative session, which he said supported his administration’s focus on improving schools, creating jobs and making government more efficient and transparent.
“We pretty much got what we wanted,” he said.
Lawmakers gave final approval earlier in the week to Markell’s proposal to authorize online betting in Delaware and more venues for sports wagering and other gambling. In addition to allowing online slots and table games, the new law expands keno beyond Delaware’s three casinos to at least 100 other sites, and betting on NFL football to at least 20 non-casino sites.
The new law puts Delaware in the forefront of a nationwide movement in several states to expand into online gambling, but Markell said the real purpose of his proposal was to help Delaware’s struggling casino industry, which is facing stiff competition from new gambling venues in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Administration officials say revenues generated by the expanded gambling opportunities will allow them to eliminate $4 million in annual slot machine fees paid by the casinos and cut their table game fees from $6.75 million to $3 million. In return for those financial breaks, the casinos have pledged to spend an equal amount on traditional business expenses such as marketing, capital improvements and debt reduction.
While taking up a host of bills on the final day of the session, lawmakers also paused to pay tribute to several departing colleagues, including House Speaker Robert Gilligan, who announced that he was retiring after 40 years in state politics.
Markell made a rare appearance on the House floor after Gilligan’s announcement to thank him for his long service to the state.
