After Governor Matt Meyer’s decision to cut $35 million for a Legislative Hall expansion from the 2027 Bond Bill, he defended that decision was about affordability.
His line-item veto goes against the recommendation of the Bond Bill Committee, the legislative building committee, and General Assembly approval to the capital budget during the early morning hours of July 1.
Meyer said his team looked through the budget “line-by-line” to assess each spending item’s benefit to Delaware’s middle class.
Rather than a Legislative Hall expansion, he said the money should go to plans for housing, healthcare, food, and utility bills.
Of more than $1.2 billion allocated in the budget, which funds capital projects for the state, the Legislative Hall update was the only item cut.
“As long as it moved Delaware forward, and we feel like it addressed the affordability issues...we were signing on to it,” Meyer said. “But if it doesn't meet that threshold, then I vetoed it.”
He said, “that was the case with this one line, and we'll continue to do so in the future.”
The veto prompted push back from the House Majority Caucus and Joint Capital Improvement Committee Co-Chairs.
In a statement, the legislators pointed out the budget “routinely funds construction, maintenance, and renovation on state buildings used by the Governor and their staff.” And this year it includes more than $838 million for executive branch projects.
One of these is $6 million for maintenance at the Carvel State Office Building, where the governor’s office is located, partly for window and roof replacements.
Lawmakers and the governor also approved $60 million to renovate the previously abandoned Emily P. Bissell Hospital, which the state will revamp to house its Division of Forensic Science.
An item that drew criticism during bond committee and from republicans on the house floor is $30 million to the Office of Management and Budget for Building and Land Acquisition, which authorizes funding for DNREC to purchase The Summit North Marina from its owners.
Meyer called the marina, located in Lums Pond State Park, a “critical state asset.” The one-time spend, “will yield significant revenue, and an economic opportunity for the state and environmental preservation for generations to come.”
A line-item veto, limited to a single budget line-item, is relatively rare. But this is Meyer’s third veto action of his term. The other two were full vetoes of legislation that lawmakers subsequently voted to override.
One of these, an override of his SB 75 veto last year, happened at 3:26 a.m. on July 1, less than an hour before the house passed the bond bill.
Lawmaker statements criticized Meyer’s lack of communication leading up to his Tuesday veto.
But Meyer said the general assembly passed its bond bill, “when pretty much all of Delaware was sleeping.”
State Rep. Debra Heffernan, the Bond Bill Committee chair, said the measure is usually one of the last ones addressed by the legislature. She added it was filed June 25th and her committee held hearings on it.
“There were members of the public and the governor's staff, executive agency members (present),” she said.“And he did not reach out. The governor did not reach out with concerns prior to (Tuesday’s) statement.”
Heffernan said Tuesday that House and Senate leadership are weighing their options to respond to the line item veto.
Meyer added that the $35 million allocation in the 2027 bond bill was a portion of a $116 million plan for the statehouse. He reiterated that Delaware needs resources focused on energy, housing, childcare, gas, and food prices.
“Legislators and others that want to partner with us on that, we're eager to do so,” he said.
The operational budget and bond budget are signed now. The only one left is grants-in-aid, which Meyer hasn’t picked up for review yet.
This story will be updated.
