Joint Finance Committee approves FY2027 Grants and Aid Act; prefiles bill as Senate Bill 337

The Joint Finance Committee on June 25 reviewed and accepted the draft fiscal year 2027 Grants and Aid Act, with committee leaders indicating the approved language will be formatted into legislation and prefiled as Senate Bill 337 on the Delaware General Assembly website.

Mr. Smith, the committee analyst, walked members through the bill line by line, highlighting major totals and program changes: county seat payments and paramedic program operation funding in section 1; a newly itemized senior-center transportation allocation; $1.763 million for senior-center transportation; and an overall section-1 total Mr. Smith listed at $40,534,269. Mr. Smith also detailed one-time grants and housing and emergency transitional-housing funding included in section 2.

"On the 1st page, section 1 appropriates funding to government units for the county seat or the payment in lieu of taxes package also for the paramedic program operation formula per Delaware code," Mr. Smith said during the presentation, describing line-item adjustments and the committee's intent to move certain programs to formula-based allocations over time.

Committee members posed targeted questions on several entries. Senators and representatives debated a $2,002,300 cost-recovery allocation to NewCastle County related to reassessments; Senator Buxton urged reconsideration and a possible rebalance to assist counties that previously incurred costs. "I think the counties have a duty to get it right... but Newcastle made some mistakes, we need to rehash it," Senator Buxton said during the discussion. The chair acknowledged the point but said the committee would proceed with the funding as presented and consider adjustments in future years.

The committee also reviewed monitoring and accountability measures. Senator Lawson and others flagged a proposed increase for Slaughterneck Community Action Organization and requested a site visit before any funding increase; the committee agreed to hold that line flat and reexamine it next year. Mr. Smith repeatedly noted that amounts shown as struck through are last year’s figures and underlined figures are the proposed new amounts.

Section 3, covering fire companies and public-service ambulance companies, drew attention for its cumulative increase. Mr. Smith summarized multiple subparts—maintenance and apparatus, ambulance maintenance, rescue trucks, rescue boats and substations—and said the section represents a proposed overall increase of about 17.2%, or roughly $2.2 million, bringing the section total to $15,541,500.

The epilogue includes several administrative and reporting provisions: controller-general audit and reporting authority for grant recipients, quarterly-payment timing for small awards, and updated senior-center qualification language. The committee adopted sections 5–13 covering those requirements and accepted additional intent and reporting language in sections 14–22, including a contingency for Wilmington Senior Center funding that requires a detailed reopening plan and proposed operating budget before disbursement.

A notable epilogue change reprograms $1,485,000 originally set aside for last year’s Smart Food Program to support the double-up-bucks initiative under SNAP and WIC. Mr. Smith said the funds were left over from fiscal 2026 appropriations and that reprogramming them would allow support for nutrition and food-access initiatives under federal matching rules. "Essentially the funds are still remaining... and there has been a proposal instead to use these funds toward the double up bucks program," Mr. Smith said.

The committee recorded motions and adopted each major section in turn. For example, a motion to adopt section 1 passed and the clerk recorded the section as accepted; motions to accept subsequent sections (1-time items, aging, arts, economic/housing/labor, family and youth services, health and disability services, neighborhood and community services, section 3 for fire companies, section 4 veterans, sections 5–13, sections 14–22, sections 23–30 and sections 31–35 plus the epilogue) were all moved and seconded and the committee signaled acceptance.

The bill will be formatted for filing as Senate Bill 337 and posted on the General Assembly website; the epilogue includes specific reporting deadlines (for instance, a Department of Education report on the compensation review is due by Jan. 31, 2027, and a housing-initiative expenditure report by May 1, 2027). The committee also placed conditional holds on some funding: Section 27 withholds all FY27 grant-aid funding to the Meridenau Volunteer Fire Company until its president and treasurer submit a certified report addressing findings of a 2026 Auditor of Accounts investigation and proposed corrective actions.

Chair closed the meeting with thanks to staff and long-serving members; Representative Postles and Senator Lawson offered farewell remarks before the committee adjourned.