Delaware Senate Republicans have crafted a careful response to Gov. John Carney’s proposed state budget that sees room for more cuts while proposing changes in the prevailing wage and reforms to the Medicaid health system for the poor.
The state faces a gap of nearly $400 million and faces a July 1 deadline for passing a balanced budget.
Carney has proposed a combination of tax increases and budget cuts in a budget that shows almost no growth in spending. (See full response below).
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The prevailing wage requires contractors on state projects to pay set wages for various trades. The GOP response pointed to mandated wages for laborers that over a year’s period would total $84,000.
The Republican response also suggested that legislators change a budget culture that sops up all revenues in good years and cuts back in leaner times.
The current budget gap is widely viewed as structural in nature and is expected to require further cuts in coming years.
Republicans did not delve into the issue of dealing with health care costs for state employees, another significant contributor to the projected shortfall.
Public employees remain a powerful constituency within state government as large private employers, like DuPont, shrink their headcounts.
Both houses and the governor’s office are controlled by Democrats. However, Democrats have a thin margin in the Senate and the budget requires a supermajority for passage.
Republicans lost a chance for a majority in the Senate after Democrats turned out in force in a special election to fill the seat held by Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long. The district includes a Middletown and a portion of the Newark area.
