Delaware Gov. Meyer Vetoes Emergency Powers Reform—Apparently, Checks and Balances Have an Expiration Date!
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have given the General Assembly a way to check his office’s emergency powers after six months. Rep. Rich Collins (R-Millsboro) sponsored House Substitute 1 for House Bill 329, which passed both chambers of the legislature unanimously.
Yes, unanimously—even in today’s political climate, lawmakers agreed that no governor should have an indefinite blank check. Meyer, however, rejected the measure at the last possible moment, leaving Delaware’s emergency-powers rules unchanged.
Apparently, bipartisan agreement is nice, right up until it threatens the governor’s authority.
The concern dates back to COVID-19, when former Gov. John Carney maintained Delaware’s state of emergency for two years through repeated renewals and issued hundreds of directives through dozens of executive orders.
Those orders affected everything from businesses and schools to individual freedoms. Residents could contact their legislators, but lawmakers had little practical ability to challenge the governor’s decisions. Collins’ bill would have preserved the governor’s ability to declare an emergency and exercise broad powers for the first 180 days.
After that, the General Assembly could amend or terminate subsequent renewals through a concurrent resolution. The proposal also specifically would not have taken effect until Meyer left office—even if he won a second term. So much for the argument that Republicans were trying to hamstring his administration.
In his eight-page veto message, Meyer argued that the legislation would create constitutional problems and that divided command during an emergency could delay action and confuse accountability. Those are serious concerns worth debating, but critics of the veto point out the irony: the governor already exercises sweeping authority during an emergency, and the bill would have introduced a legislative check only after six months.
The central question is whether emergency powers should remain effectively unchecked indefinitely—or whether elected representatives should eventually get a say.
Delawareans might reasonably wonder why accountability matters everywhere except in the governor’s own office.
In Dover, apparently, checks and balances are wonderful—provided nobody checks the balance of power.
When the 154th General Assembly convenes next year, lawmakers should revisit the issue and pursue a workable reform.
Emergencies sometimes demand swift executive action; they should not automatically mean an open-ended suspension of meaningful legislative oversight.
As Joseph Fulgham, Director of Policy & Communications for the Delaware House of Representatives Republican Caucus, argues in his original commentary, the goal is to ensure citizens can be heard through their elected representatives.
Delaware taxpayers deserve emergency leadership that can act decisively—and a government that remembers it still answers to the people.
Source: Joseph Fulgham, Director of Policy & Communications, Delaware House of Representatives Republican Caucus.
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