Delaware lawmakers weigh in on final legislative session

DOVER, Del – “You can’t do things during the wee hours of the morning, and so I think that there is a concerted effort this year that we’re going to get the business done early,” said Representative Ruth Briggs King.

As the end of legislative session nears, Delaware lawmakers are hard at work making sure certain bills get passed.

“You’re going to see the House pass the bond bill and you’re going to see the Senate and House pass the grant-in-aid package,” said State Senator Brian Pettyjohn.

“Aside from that, that’s the magic of June 30th, you never really know what’s going to happen,” said Pettyjohn.

Some Delaware lawmakers said on Sunday that the grant-in-aid bill, which helps to give millions of dollars in grants to nonprofits, would most likely pass before the end of session.

Representative Ruth Briggs King said legislation like the grant-in-aid bill is something that takes a lot of questioning before it can move forward.

“There’s a lot of taxpayer investment and money in that and some things are very duplicative or seem to be favorites of some legislators and so I think it’s very incumbent of us to take a good look and make sure that those funds of state taxpayers are being appropriated wisely,” said King.

Meanwhile, there is still plenty of discussion around gun control. Supporters on Sunday hoped those bills would pass. But, others like State Senator Brian Pettyjohn said they believe there should be more awareness about gun rights first.

“What I hope to see is that some of these bad bills especially some of these firearm bills that really infringe upon people’s rights don’t move forward,” said Pettyjohn.

Other lawmakers said things like marijuana legalization and assisted suicide still need a lot more work in order to move ahead in the First State.

“What I don’t think we’re going to see is recreational marijuana bill because it was sent to appropriations, and I don’t think we’ll see that,” said King.

“Assisted suicide bill that did not make it out of committee,” said King.