Delaware State News | Opinion | by Timothy Barchak On May 18, the Delaware House of Representatives voted to end Delaware’s estate tax as of Dec. 31, 2017. The bill, HB 16, has been assigned to the Delaware Senate Finance Committee for review. It is likely to eventually be voted on by the full State Senate. The estate tax impacts only the wealthiest among us, the heirs to large estates. Nationally, about two estates out of 1,000 are impacted by the estate tax, and the heirs owe, on average, 17 percent […]
General Assembly deadlocked over a budget with time running out
The News Journal | by Matthew Albright Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked over how much to raise in tax increases and how much to cut with only a month left in this year’s session of the General Assembly. Fundamental disagreements over the budget threaten to clog a legislative agenda that still includes controversial bills ranging from reinstating the death penalty to legalizing marijuana to overhauling the historic Coastal Zone Act. When legislators return to work on Tuesday, they’ll have 13 legislative days left. “All these other issues are being held […]
Solutions floated to mitigate ‘cold realities’ of Delaware school budget cuts
Newsworks | by Cris Barrish Proms, finals and graduations are dominating the final days of the school year, but most eyes in Delaware’s academic circles are focused on Dover. One month from now state lawmakers will decide the fate of Gov. John Carney’s proposed $37 million in cuts to K-12 education. Right now, though, the state’s school community is in turmoil — a state of uncertainty and fear that may or may not be alleviated when the General Assembly fulfills its statutory obligation to pass a balanced budget by June […]
Letter: Increase LLC fees to avoid education cuts
Cape Gazette | Letter to the Editor | by Carolyn Quinn Currently every domestic and foreign limited liability company registered in Delaware pays an annual tax of $300 to do business here. On March 28, Rep. John Kowalko introduced House Bill 101 which would increase that tax to $325. On May 3, he added an amendment that would raise the increase to $350. HB 101 was scheduled for a hearing in the House Revenue & Finance Committee May 3, but Rep. Quinn Johnson’s motion to table the bill passed. When the […]
Coastal Zone update bill opposition
Delaware Public Media | by Jon Hurdle At the old Claymont Steel site in northern New Castle County, some 425 acres of land sits empty and derelict, dotted with piles of brick and the rusting remnants of the Evraz steelworks that operated there until it closed in December 2013. A portion of the site, crossed by Philadelphia Pike, lies within Delaware’s Coastal Zone, an area that has been designated off-limits to new industrial development since the eponymous Coastal Zone Act was passed by the state legislature in 1971 to protect […]
Delaware school boards could raise taxes without referendum under new bill
Delaware Public Media | by James Dawson A bill that would allow local school boards to raise property taxes for operating funds based on inflation is looking for sponsors in the General Assembly The draft proposal from Rep. Earl Jaques (D-Glasgow), who chairs the House Education Committee, is nearly a clone of a plan floated three years ago that never received a vote. Every two years, school board members could hike property taxes by up to three percent, or based on inflation, without getting taxpayer approval. Referendums for capital projects, […]
Bill would let school districts raise taxes with no referendum
Delaware State News | by Matt Bittle DOVER — Draft legislation in the General Assembly would let school districts raise property taxes without referendums. The bill, which has not yet been assigned a number, would enable school boards to increase taxes every two years by the percentage change in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers or by 3 percent. Such tax hikes could only be used to pay for operational costs and not construction. The measure, sponsored by Rep. Earl Jaques, D-Glasgow, is sure […]
Wilmington kids left out in bill that expands Newark Charter preference zone
Newsworks | by Cris Barrish For the 16 years Newark Charter School has been in existence, the high-performing institution has given preference to students who live within five miles of the campus. Using that formula the school has grown and thrived, and this year became a National Blue Ribbon School for the second time. It’s now Delaware’s biggest public school, with 2,330 students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Another 3,000 are on its waiting list. Yet as the school has flourished, discontent has grown among families, politicians and other critics that […]
Legislation would be ripoff for utility customers
The News Journal | Opinion | by Alan Muller As Delaware reaches the peak of its political season, there’s no more powerful example of the prevailing special interest chokehold than Senate Bill 80 (now replaced with the nearly identical Senate Substitute 1). This bill would create a new line item charge (“distribution system improvement charge”) on Delmarva Power electric and gas bills, without meaningful opportunities for public review of the additional charges. Total charges without a “rate case” could amount to $24 million. In some respects this proposal resembles the undying “Bloomgate” […]
Kowalko: Estate tax repeal victimizes needy Delawareans
The News Journal | Opinion | by Rep. John Kowalko In a decision that I can only interpret as a betrayal of the core principles and ideals of any self-respecting Democrat, 10 members of Delaware’s Democratic Party House caucus joined the entire Republican House caucus and voted to pass HB 16. The piece of legislation, introduced by Representative Mike Ramone and co-sponsored exclusively by Republicans, would effectively repeal Delaware’s Estate Tax with a significant and permanent loss of revenue. In 2016 the estate tax brought in $9.3 million of needed revenue […]