DE – Farmland preservation mandate fails in state House
Source: Star Democrat
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 5:08 pm | Updated: 5:37 pm, Tue Mar 15, 2016.
DOVER, Del. (AP) — The state House has rejected a proposed constitutional amendment mandating that $10 million be set aside each year for farmland preservation.
A majority of lawmakers voted for the measure Tuesday, but the final 20-to-17 tally fell short of the required two-thirds majority for a constitutional amendment. All the dissenting votes came from Democrats, all but one of them from northern Delaware.
Democrats from more rural central and southern Delaware joined Republicans in voting for the measure.
In 2005, the House and Senate voted unanimously to pass a law earmarking $10 million annually in realty transfer tax revenues to the state farmland preservation fund. But lawmakers and administration officials have been routinely raiding the fund in recent years to come up with money to balance the budget.
Chief bill sponsor Rep. Dave Wilson, a Sussex County Republican, noted that Gov. Jack Markell's budget proposals have carved into the $10 million set-aside for the past six years in a row.