DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware lawmakers have approved a $421 million capital budget for road and construction projects in the fiscal year starting Tuesday.
The spending package approved unanimously in both chambers early Tuesday is a decrease from the $477 million authorization for fiscal 2014.
The budget includes $155 million for transportation projects and about $200 million in new bond authorizations for school construction and other capital improvements.
Democratic Gov. Jack Markell had proposed raising Delaware's gas tax by 10 cents a gallon to boost spending on road and transportation projects by $100 million annually over five years, but lawmakers balked at the election-year tax hike.
The administration subsequently decided, with lawmakers' blessings, to raise weekend tolls and to borrow an additional $20 million annually to pay for road paving.
