A service of Salisbury University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Delaware Budget Requests Begin With the Law

creative commons

DOVER, Del. (AP) - Government agency heads are asking Markell administration budget officials for additional funding in the next fiscal year.

Chief Justice Leo Strine Jr. told state budget office officials on Monday that the judicial branch would like about $3 million in additional funding in fiscal 2016 on top of the $95 million in general funds that the court system received this year. Strine says more than 80 percent additional funding would to to employee costs and technology infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Department of Correction officials are asking for an increase of 3.6 percent over this year's $277 million operating budget.

Prison officials say their funding priorities include inmate health care and food costs, ammunition and accessories for DOC's transition to .40 caliber pistols, and more money for ballistic vests and stun guns.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.