Frustration over Republicans blocking a DMV fee increase bill Thursday spilled over into a capital budget hearing as state lawmakers split up how to fund DelDOT projects for the next year.
The proposal would’ve raised $23.9 million to help bankroll some infrastructure projects and needed one GOP vote in the Senate.
Instead the Joint Bond Bill Committee approved DelDOT’s $127 million project list, which didn’t include any money for Municipal Street Aid or the Community Transportation Fund.
“I’m extremely disappointed we’re at this place right now,” said co-chair Rep. Quinn Johnson (D-Middletown). “There are citizens across the state who depend on us to get our job done to make sure they get to and from their place of work safely.”
Republicans defended their hesitancy to embrace the bill, which has been negotiated behind closed doors since last December.
Sen. Colin Bonini, a Dover Republican, pointed out the Democrats have had “absolute domination” of state government for decades.
“Until this last election, [Democrats] had a supermajority in both chambers, you’ve held the governor’s office for 22 years and to try and peg Republicans as the problem when the state is completely Democratic is sort of silly,” Bonini, who’s making a bid for governor in 2016, said.
Bonini and his colleagues have argued for months that Delaware has a spending problem rather than a lack of revenue. That’s amid gloomy forecasts month after month showing stagnant collections.
Republicans continue to bristle at concessions made by Democrats to try and sway the lone vote needed to pass the bill.
The Joint Finance Committee set aside $5 million to move some DelDOT operating costs from the Transportation Trust Fund to the General Fund while promising $10 million at the negotiating table.
“For us to make a $5 million dent is disingenuous and almost laughable,” said. Rep. Mike Ramone (R-Middle Run Valley).
Efforts to increase the threshold for prevailing wage on public projects were also pushed aside by GOP leadership, despite their initial approval.
Sen. Brian Bushweller (D-Dover) says the entire budget is going to be “harmful” to people and institutions in Delaware.
“We’re about to cut a lot of spending and we’ll see what the effect is. We’re going to find out that cutting that spending is not a good thing to do,” Bushweller said.
The backlog of projects – some of them dubbed critical by DelDOT – total $780 million.
The project plan approved by the committee also doesn’t include any new paving projects – something lawmakers signed off on last year when the Markell Administration hiked tolls along Del. 1.
Transportation Secretary Jennifer Cohan and her staff sat before the committee during the nearly hour-long argument.
“This limited program will affect everyone in your district. You are going to hear from them,” Cohan said.
