In a significant break with recent history, Delaware’s House of Representatives voted to approve the coming year’s state budget a week before the end of its business for the year.
The House voted 33-8 in favor of the $3.5 billion dollar General Fund spending plan and it passed with little debate. It took Representatives all of 15 minutes to consider and vote on the budget.
That’s the earliest the House has passed a budget since approving the fiscal year 2004 budget on June 25, 2003. The Senate passed the fiscal year 2005 budget more than a week early on June 22, 2004.
The only dissent on the floor came from House Minority Leader Gregory Lavelle (R-Sharpley), who questioned the 6.15 percent growth over last year’s budget and the wisdom of spending most of the estimated $345 million revenue surplus.
“When you look at the national economic data, the regional economic data and when you look at Delaware’s economic data, it’s not heartening for next year,” said Lavelle on the floor — suggesting that surplus revenue should either be returned to taxpayers or saved, at least in part, in case of another economic downturn.
House Speaker Robert Gilligan (D-Sherwood Park) disagreed with Lavelle’s assertion that the growth of the budget showed a lack of fiscal discipline. Gilligan said much of the new spending on Medicaid/Medicare, schools, and a once a decade 27th paycheck for state employees is necessary. He also defended the choice to give a pay raise to state employees and pensioners.
“It’s justified growth,” said Gilligan. “There would have been no growth if we didn’t have the Medicaid problem, if you didn’t have the 27th paycheck, if you didn’t increase employee salaries, and if you didn’t have the growth in public education.”
Reaction to Delaware House of Representatives passing FY2012 Budget Bill.
House Speaker Robert Gilligan (D-Sherwood Park) addresses the 6.15 percent growth in the budget over last year.
House Speaker Robert Gilligan (D-Sherwood Park) believes one-time spending in this year’s budget is fiscally responsible.
House Minority Leader Gregory Lavelle (R-Sharpley) explains why he was one of eight representatives to vote against the 2012 budget.
Gilligan also noted there was plenty of opportunity for detractors to offer their input.
“It’s easy to say the budget is too high, but tell us specifically what it is you would cut. Let’s be real specific. Would you cut employees? If so, what department? Would you cut this program? That program? I think everything in there was needed,” said Gilligan.
Gilligan added that spending in the Bond Bill is mostly one-time allocations aimed at economic development, based on Governor Jack Markell’s recommendations.
“Most of what the Governor recommended was one-time economic development measures that are all going to bear fruit in the future,” said Gilligan.
Lavelle indicated it was simply easier for legislators to spend the surplus than save it. He pointed out that the budget the Governor proposed in January dealt with many of the state’s issues, like Medicare/Medicaid, and called for only 3.8 percent growth. He estimated that if you combine growth in the General Fund budget with the Bond Bill and Grant-in-Aid, state spending is actually up 8.5 percet
“The unfortunate thing with government is when you run into a lot of [additional] money, you lose the impetus to reform,” said Lavelle. “The restructuring of government seemed to hit the wall when more money came in.”
There was, however, agreement on how well the process of developing the budget went this year.
The budget was filed back on June 14, even before the final revenue projections from the Delaware Financial and Advisory Committee were available. State Rep. Dennis P. Williams (D-Wilmington North), co-chair of the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee, told the House “we have a good budget and people have had enough time to look over it.”
Joint Finance Committee member Rep. Ruth Briggs-King (R-Georgetown) did not agree with the budget in its entirety, but believes the JFC did its job effectively. “In looking at other states and knowing they don’t have balanced budgets, here we are a week before end of session and we’ve provided a balanced budget.”
Despite voting “no” on the budget bill, Rep. Lavelle also praised the process.
“[This] proves that this body can get [the budget] out early, it can be reviewed, that it can be done in the light of day,” said Lavelle. “And that in itself helps instill confidence in the integrity of our government.”
The budget still needs to be approved by the State Senate before heading to the Governor for his signature. There are three work days left before this legislative year ends on June 30th.
In other Legislature news Thursday:
The Bond Bill Committee finished work on a nearly $664 million dollar capital spending bill late Thursday night. The Bond Bill has about $244 million more in it than Governor Markell proposed in January, thanks to the additional state revenues that appears since the start of the year. $198 million of the bill is dedicated to highway projects.
The House passed a bill setting the required business and regulatory framework to accommodate the recent agreement reached with Bloom Energy of California to build its East Coast fuel-cell facility in Newark. the vote was 35-4 with two not voting. The Senate passed the same bill last week. It now heads to the Governor’s desk.
The House passed legislation addressing recent problems facing charter schools in Delaware. While a number of legislators said the bill is not perfect and hope to see the issue addressed further in the future, the measure passed easily by a 40-0 vote with one absent. It now heads to the State Senate.
