Last year, Rep. Wilson introduced a bill House Bill 124, this bill would amend the Delaware Constitution to restrict any appropriation of the state’s transfer tax collections until farmland funds receive $10 million. The Delaware Farmland Preservation Fund was created under the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Act in order to conserve, protect, and encourage improvement of agricultural lands within the State. A Constitutional amendment requires two-thirds approval of the House and Senate in consecutive sessions of the General Assembly.
On March 9, 2016, The News Journal published an article titled: Bill would ban lawmakers from raiding farmland funds. Rep. Wilson is quoted in the article stating that “They have robbed that fund for the past six years,” Wilson said. “We want to keep it sovereign.”
My issue with Rep. Wilson, he sponsors a bill that is amending our constitution and he does not disclose that he has benefited from the fund. According to DNREC’s website, he has received from this program almost $400,000.00, see below document.
I introduced House Bill 391 which would require every member of the General Assembly or person elected to state office to disclose as part of their financial disclosure if they have received more than $10,000 in the last 10 years due to the sale of land, development rights, an agricultural conservation easement, a forest preservation easement or any other type of easement to the State of Delaware, any county, any municipality, any public instrumentality, or any government agency or organization. My bill did not make it out of committee. We need more transparency in our state government.
DelawareFirstState 