General Assembly goes virtual for rest of session

Leader's of Delaware's House and Senate announced May 14 that Legislative Hall will remain closed to the public for the remainder of the legislative session, but lawmakers will meet virtually or in socially distanced groups to conduct business.

Senate President Pro Tempore David McBride, D-Hawk's Nest, and Speaker of the House Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth, said the focus will be on the revenue shortfall that hit in the last quarter of the current budget, and then to pass the fiscal year 2021 budget.

“We're going to concentrate on the money bills,” Schwartzkopf said. “We need to be able to get through the budget. The budget is our No. 1 concern. It's a constitutional concern, and we're definitely going to make sure we get that done. Anything past that is gravy.”

In March, Delaware moved its income tax filing from April to July and in doing so pushed revenue anticipated for the 2020 budget into the 2021 budget.

“All the revenue we were counting on for the 2020 budget coming from our state income tax will now be in the next fiscal year. It will not be in this year, so that's put us in about a $680 million deficit,” Schwartzkopf said. “That's what we need to fix first before we can move any further.”

Bills filed earlier this session, including hot-button issues such as death penalty and marijuana, will have to be addressed in January, Schwartzkopf said.

McBride and Schwartzkopf said Republican leaders have been kept in the loop to hold virtual meetings, and they support it.

The House is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m., Tuesday, May 26, to introduce and vote on a concurrent resolution setting in motion the virtual session. At 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 27, the Senate will vote on the resolution. “Both chambers have to pass this concurrent resolution before we can do any business at all,” Schwartzkopf said.

Sessions will be livestreamed on Youtube and Facebook pages of each of the caucuses.

The 12-member Joint Finance Committee will meet in early June at Legislative Hall where they will social distance, and be required to wear masks and gloves, Schwartzkopf said. Members will also have their temperatures taken at the front door of the building, he said. “Any member who doesn't feel comfortable sitting in there, we'll put them in their office and zoom them into the meeting,” he said.

The door will also be left open for committee meetings if members choose to meet in the building, Schwartzkopf said.

“The idea is that there will be limited staff, not the extra people standing around,” he said. “The bottom line is we're trying to minimize the actual number of people involved.”

An amendment to the Delaware Constitution passed in 2018 allows the Legislature to meet virtually during an emergency – a change from previous law that required legislators make decisions only in the Legislative Hall building.

“I'm just thankful that we passed the bill back in 2018 or else we'd be having a lot more legal difficulty,” Schwartzkopf said.