Spotlight Delaware

2 days ago | spotlightdelaware.org | Julia Merola

Why Should Delaware Care? Delaware is one of just a few states that send all school funding questions to voters through the referendum process. District officials said more money is needed to stem staffing cuts, but Thursday’s vote marked the second failure in three months to raise those dollars.  The Indian River School District’s referendum request to raise $22.5 million was rejected by more than half of voters Thursday, continuing a recent trend of district requests being defeated at the polls.

2 days ago | spotlightdelaware.org | Karl Baker

Why should Delaware care? Constitutional challenges have emerged to a state law that changed the rules for Delaware’s influential business litigation, making it more difficult to sue powerful, rich owners of companies. Proponents of the bill say it is necessary to ensure that Delaware remains the incorporation capital of America, which contributes about a third of the state budget independent of taxpayers.

4 days ago | spotlightdelaware.org | Karl Baker

Why should Delaware care? Hospital costs in Delaware are some of the highest in the nation, which impacts residents’ pocketbooks and the state’s, with its obligation to fund Medicaid and retiree benefits. In response, Delaware lawmakers last year created the Diamond State Hospital Cost Review Board with the authority to veto hospital budgets if they deemed them excessive. But that authority has opponents saying it damages Delaware’s chief brand as a regulator of corporate governance.

4 days ago | spotlightdelaware.org | Julia Merola

Why Should Delaware Care? Delaware is one of just a few states that send school funding questions to voters through the referendum process. And with costs rising in Southern Delaware, one district says it will need more money to stem staffing cuts. The Indian River School District is asking residents in eastern Sussex County to vote to approve a nearly $23 million tax increase on Thursday, less than three months after a similar referendum failed.

5 days ago | spotlightdelaware.org | Julia Merola

Why Should Delaware Care? The Public Education Funding Commission, a state group tasked with studying the current funding formula and recommending how dollars are distributed to schools, voted on Monday to move forward with a hybrid formula. The approved framework incorporates Delaware’s current distribution of money on a per-student basis with one that allocates money based on students’ needs.