Delaware State News | June 4, 2025 | Opinion
by John D. Flaherty
Editor’s note: This letter was also sent to the Delaware General Assembly.
The Delaware Coalition for Open Government is writing to request that the General Assembly reexamine the need for a 350-space garage for Legislative Hall.
This project should be postponed, and the remaining balance of the $33 million appropriated by the General Assembly for the construction should be reverted back to the general fund to address many of the pressing needs facing Delawareans today.
Many of the reasons given in the April joint statement issued by the majority party leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, postponing the $120 million Legislative Hall expansion project, apply equally to the garage initiative.
That statement reads, “For the first time in several years, our state faces new funding challenges — challenges which have only been exacerbated by cuts from the federal government. Just this week, we learned that the Trump Administration has cut $38 million in public health funding for the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services. In the coming months, lawmakers will be faced with tough decisions about how to balance our annual budget. We are committed to funding critical programs that benefit our students, our seniors, our veterans, and every day families.”
We applaud the actions of the General Assembly leaders in deciding not to proceed with the expansion project.
The money saved can be used to fund the Food Bank of Delaware, AmeriCorps, arts, libraries, mass transit and many other worthy programs whose operations are threatened by federal funding reductions in this uncertain budget environment.
With the full General Assembly in session for 42 days out of the year, this garage is an extravagance that cannot be justified in light of so many unmet human needs.
Finally, Delaware officials have invested millions of dollars in constructing a statewide system of Park & Ride lots.
These lots enable the public, legislators and staff to park their cars and ride transit, thus obviating the need to build this garage and enabling the use of the money for many of the pressing needs facing Delawareans today.
Thank you for your consideration of our request.
John D. Flaherty
Board member, Delaware Coalition for Open Government