FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | October 22, 2025
Contact: Sarah Fulton (302) 401-1114
DOVER — In the wake of news that Delaware is facing a looming budget deficit due to several provisions in the federal budget bill, Democratic Legislative Leadership, including Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokola, Speaker of the House Melissa Minor Brown, Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, House Majority Leader Kerri Evelyn Harris, Senate Majority Whip S. Elizabeth Lockman, House Majority Whip Ed Osienski, Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Sen. Trey Paradee, Joint Finance Committee Co-Chair Kim Williams, Joint Capital Improvement Committee Co-Chair Jack Walsh, and Joint Capital Improvement Co-Chair Debra Heffernan released the following joint statement:
On Monday, we learned from the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) there is a new round in the federal assault on our State budgets: a loss to Delaware of $400 million over this and the next two fiscal years, due to President Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”.
We now need to move with the urgency the moment requires to protect funding for critical programs that support Delawareans across the state.
The federal legislation is packed with corporate giveaways, including massive deductions that apply retroactively to past years. Because Delaware’s tax code automatically mirrors federal law, those same corporate deductions would flow through our system, jeopardizing hundreds of millions already set aside for schools, healthcare, and other core services. That means previously allocated state funds are at risk unless we take decisive steps to decouple Delaware’s corporate tax laws from the federal code.
To that end, we support taking appropriate, timely action that makes it clear our state laws will not double down on Washington’s corporate tax giveaways. Delaware instead will preserve the resources needed to support Delawareans and show what is possible not through division and wealth inequality, but through a government by, for, and committed to serving the people.
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