DOVER, DE (AP) – Members of the Delaware Legislature’s budget writing committee began marking up Gov. John Carney’s spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year by approving pay raises for state employees. The committee approved pay raises for state workers ranging from 3% to 9%, depending on their pay grades, with the lowest grades getting the highest percentage increases. The committee also added more than $2.2 million to Carney’s recommended budget to begin implementing a state-licensed and regulated marijuana industry. Carney announced last month that he would allow bills legalizing recreational marijuana use by adults in the state and authorizing the establishment of a state-licensed and regulated industry to become law without his signature. The committee also approved Carney’s recommendation of establishing a $15 minimum wage for full-time state employees.

GOV. JOHN CARNEY