The following letter was sent to the General Assembly on behalf of 47 other signatories with a copy provided to the Cape Gazette for publication.
We are writing to request the General Assembly to reexamine the need for a Legislative Hall 350-space parking garage.
This project should be postponed and the remaining balance of the $33 million appropriated by the General Assembly for the Legislative Hall garage project be reverted back to the general fund to address many of the pressing needs facing Delawareans today.
Many of the reasons given in an April joint statement, issued by the majority party leaders of the Senate and House postponing the $120 million Legislative Hall expansion project, apply equally to the Legislative Hall garage project.
That statement, in part, “… 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 everyday families.”
We applaud the actions of the General Assembly leaders in deciding not to proceed with the $120 million Legislative Hall expansion project.
The money saved can be used to help fund the Food Bank, AmeriCorps, arts, libraries, mass transit and many other worthy projects and programs whose operations and budgets 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 $33 million garage project is an extravagance that cannot be justified in light of so many unmet human needs.
Finally, the State of Delaware has 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 $33 million garage. Instead use the money to address many of the pressing needs facing Delawareans today.
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