Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer opened the last day of the legislative session Tuesday by signing the state’s nearly $7 billion fiscal year 2027 budget.
State lawmakers also approved a $1.25 billion capital budget for the new fiscal year that starts July 1, $146 million in one-time spending and $99 million in grants-in-aid funding to nonprofit organizations. They passed the budget bills along with dozens of bills, addressing property tax rates, gun dealer regulations, affordable housing and more.
“A budget is more than dollars and cents,” Meyer said. “It’s a statement of our values, and today we’re signing a budget that invests in people that tackles affordability and expands opportunity for every Delawarean.”
Lawmakers competed to get their bills across the finish line on a variety of issues, including tackling the lingering property assessment fallout from the recent statewide reassessments. They also considered several constitutional amendments on voting initiatives, reproductive freedom and same-sex marriage.
Because it’s the last year of the two-year 153rd General Assembly, which coincides with an election, bills that fail to make it past both chambers are dead and must start over next year. The one exception is constitutional amendments, which must be passed in two consecutive legislative sessions and are not affected by the beginning of a new General Assembly cycle.