Gov. John Carney unveiled his final proposed budget Thursday.
The $6.1 billion budget continues to set aside more than $400 million in stabilization funds to be used leaner economic times. The fund has not been propular with the progressive wing of Carney’s party which has blocked efforts to enshrine budget smoothing in the state Constitution.
The budget continues to propose added spending for education including putting teachers on a path to earn a starting salary of $60,000. The budget calls for more than $2 billion in spending for public education.
Spending on enironmental matters is nearly $130 million and includes $7.5 million for electric vehicle charging stations.
A total of $122 million was proposed for state employee salary increases. The state has been struggling to fill positions in recent years.
Carney cautioned legislaors about the impact of state employee and retiree health care spending, with nearly one-third of the proposed state budget set aside for health health care costs. Efforts to rein in those costs through a Medicare Advantage plan ran into intense opposition.
More than $52 million was proposed for economic development initiatives.
Unlike Maryland, which is struggling with a budget deficit, revenues have held up in Delaware, due in part to the lack of a expected recession. However, forecasted revenues are expected to decline in fiscal 2025.
Carney went ahead with the budget address after an illness led to a rescheduling of the State of the State Address in March. The budget address typically comes after the State of the State.
Republican legislators offered the following reactions:
State Sen. Dave Lawson – “I appreciate that Governor Carney continues to allocate revenue to the Budget Smoothing Fund which will better prepare Delaware for lean budget years. I do think, however, we should look for more areas where we can spend less money. This year’s budget is just over $6 billion, $2 billion more than Governor Carney’s first signed budget in 2017 and 8.25% more than Fiscal Year 2024. I am afraid that this continued growth, especially if a more progressive administration assumes office next year, will come back and bite us.”
House Minority Leader Representative Mike Ramone – “The pace of state spending growth is troubling. I would have liked to have seen more from the governor about addressing inefficiencies in government operations. I believe we could be making better use of technology, taking steps to consolidate partially used schools and facilities, and reducing the cost of regulatory compliance. That might have reduced inflationary pressures and allowed us to consider some modest tax relief for citizens and small businesses.” Ramone did praise the governor’s open space budget recommendations and plans to address unfunded state pension liabilities
Click here for Carney’s budget presentation.
