After Governor Matt Meyer’s decision to cut $35 million for Legislative Hall expansion from the 2027 Bond Bill, he defended that the money is better spent on items in the budget that improve affordability.
His line-item veto goes against there commendation 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 spending 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,” he 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 CommitteeCo-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 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 a “critical state asset.” The “one-time expenditure” to buy it “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 less than an hour before the house passed the bond bill on July 1.
This story will be updated.
