DOVER, Del. (AP) - Members of the legislature's budget writing committee have wrapped up their work on a spending plan for the fiscal year starting July 1.
The $3.7 billion operating budget approved by the Joint Finance Committee on Thursday represents a 3.6 percent increase over the current year's budget and is about $6 million higher than the budget proposed by Gov. Jack Markell in January.
Committee members actually added about $26 million to Markell's proposal but the net increase was smaller because of reductions in debt service and other budget categories that freed up money for additional spending.
The changes made by the committee include new spending on school technology, court security and health service provider contracts.
The spending plan does not include an across-the-board pay raise for state employees.
