CHAPTER 409
FORMERLY
SENATE BILL NO. 249
AS AMENDED BY
SENATE AMENDMENT NO. 1
AN ACT TO RENAME THE MAIN ADMINISTRATION BUILDING OF THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE IN HONOR OF FORMER DELAWARE STATE REPRESENTATIVE, STATE SENATOR AND SECRETARY OF FINANCE RICHARD S. CORDREY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
WHEREAS, the Honorable Richard S. Cordrey of Millsboro, Sussex County, served as a member of the Delaware State House of Representatives from 1970 to 1972, and as a member of the Delaware State Senate from 1972 to 1996; and
WHEREAS, Senator Cordrey served as Senate Majority Leader from 1974 to 1976, and as President Pro Tempore of the Senate from 1977 to 1996, becoming the longest-serving President Pro Tempore in Delaware history and one of the longest-serving in the nation; and
WHEREAS, as a member of the Senate, he served as chair of the Senate Banking and Ethics Committees and as co-chair of the Legislative Council, among other committee assignments; and
WHEREAS, among the many accomplishments for which Senator Cordrey is remembered are his important contributions to Delaware government’s fiscal stability and financial management, in the form of two amendments to the Delaware State Constitution, a process completed in 1980, establishing a spending cap of 98 per cent of anticipated general fund revenues and the establishment of a budget reserve account, known as a "Rainy Day Fund," which could only be used for unanticipated deficits and other unexpected emergencies; and
WHEREAS, for posterity it should be noted that Senator Cordrey was ably assisted in conceiving of these measures by his fellow "Millsboro-ite," close friend and mentor, former U. S. Senator John J. Williams (1904-1988), who retired from a long and distinguished career in the U. S. Senate the same month Senator Cordrey began his duties as a Delaware State Senator, and that, as has so often been the case in Delaware history, Senator Cordrey, a lifelong Democrat, and Senator Williams, a lifelong Republican, put aside party differences in the interests of the state they both loved so well; and
WHEREAS, in the early 1980’s, Senator Cordrey worked closely with Governor Pierre S. du Pont, IV, even though, again, they were of opposite political parties, to bring about enactment of the state’s landmark "Financial Center Development Act," which has served to make Delaware a national banking center and has brought thousands of high-quality jobs to the state; and
WHEREAS, some years after his retirement from the Senate in 1996, he was named Delaware’s Secretary of Finance by then-Governor Ruth Ann Minner, in which position he again served the state ably and well; and
WHEREAS, Senator Cordrey, younger of the two sons of John and Rachel Cordrey, was born and raised in the Sussex County town of Millsboro, where he still lives, and where he has, from his boyhood, been active in hands-on farming; and
WHEREAS, after graduating from Millsboro High School and Goldey-Beacom College, where he met and fell in love with an attractive young lady from Vineland, New Jersey, named Mary Jane Bowen, with whom he was subsequently joined in Holy Matrimony on the 5th Day of December, 1953, and with whom he was later blessed by the birth of two sons, Rick and Steve; and
WHEREAS, after completing his military service in the U. S. Army, Senator Cordrey returned to Millsboro with his wife, where they have made their home and raised their family; and
WHEREAS, for more than half a century, Senator Cordrey has owned and operated R. S. C. Farms, a successful farming and agribusiness enterprise in Millsboro and surrounding areas of Sussex County; and
WHEREAS, throughout his years in the Delaware General Assembly, Senator Cordrey was one of the few active farmers among the membership and was a strong and eloquent voice on behalf of Delaware’s farmers and our state’s tradition of family farming; and
WHEREAS, because of Senator Cordrey’s exemplary service to the State of Delaware over many years in a number of important capacities, and because of his lifelong involvement in, and dedication to, Delaware farming, it is singularly appropriate that the Delaware Department of Agriculture’s Main Administration Building south of Dover be named in honor of this distinguished Delaware farmer;
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:
Section 1. The Delaware Department of Agriculture Main Administration Building at 2320 South DuPont Highway, Dover, Delaware, is hereby renamed the "Richard S. Cordrey Building."
Approved September 24, 2012