This week saw the return of the General Assembly into the second leg of the 150th General Assembly. As a reminder, all bills that were active last year, remain so, meaning bills like raising the minimum wage and legalizing recreational marijuana are still alive and kicking.
Speaking of which, this week also saw a rally at Leg Hall by members of SEIU, a service employees union, calling for raising Delaware’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. As you may recall, the State Chamber has engaged on this issue highlighting the need for investments in skills training for low-skilled workers to retrain them into careers with growth potential. It has been, and remains, the policy of the State Chamber that arbitrary increases to the minimum wage place pressures on those businesses that can’t afford to raise wages, and ultimately hurt those workers by forcing companies to reduce hours or reduce personnel. The State Chamber looks forward to working with members of the General Assembly and the Administration to secure training funding to help change the lives of Delawareans for the better. More on that to come.
Next week the Governor will give his State of the State speech, with his recommended budget to come the week after.
