DOVER, Del. (AP) - The Latest on efforts by Delaware lawmakers to pass a budget (all times local):
5:35 a.m.
Delaware lawmakers have given up trying to pass a budget for the fiscal year that started Saturday as Republicans refused to support higher income taxes proposed by Gov. John Carney and fellow Democrats to fund a proposed $4 billion spending plan.
After weeks of budget negotiations and failed attempts at last-minute deals, lawmakers settled early Saturday on an unprecedented short-term measure funding state government at fiscal 2017 levels for 72 hours.
The move came after a proposed tax increase failed in the House, with all Republicans and one Democrat voting against it.
Carney said he was disappointed that lawmakers could not agree on budget, adding that Republicans were unwilling to compromise on “ideological demands.”
Carney said he planned to call lawmakers back to session at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
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2 a.m.
House lawmakers have failed to approve a bill raising income taxes on Delawareans as Democrats and Republicans worked late into the night to try to piece together a budget for the fiscal year that started Saturday.
The bill, which raised the tax rate from 6.6 percent to 6.8 percent on people making more than $60,000 and created a new tax bracket of 7.1 percent for income over $150,000, failed to gain the necessary majority, with all Republicans and one Democrat voting against it.
Democrats had hoped to use the additional money to fund a grants package for volunteer fire companies, nonprofit organizations and community groups, and to fill in about $22 million in cuts to local school districts that were approved earlier this week by the Democrat-led budget committee.
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