Governor Jack Markell (D) concluded the 2011 legislative session early Friday morning by signing the state budget into law. It bought the curtain down on a year that the governor says delivered progress on multiple fronts. Much of the agenda Markell rolled out in his January State of the State address and budget proposal—and later tweaked when additional revenue became available—has been enacted.
“This session we really had a chance and a choice,” said Markell in an interview with DFM News. “Our chance was to really focus intently on jobs and on schools and on public safety and we have done that. Our choice was to do it in a way that was respectful. We worked and did it in a way that engaged the General Assembly as opposed to demonizing each other as has happened in other states.”
Governor Jack Markell (D) reflects on 2011 Legislative Session
Excerpts of DFM News’ interview with Gov. Markell
Among the legislative wins Markell pointed to as key successes were the allocation of $154 million dollars to “Building Delaware’s Future Now” initiatives, including the creation of a $55 million “Jobs Infrastructure Fund”, and the addition of $40 million to the Transportation Trust Fund. Markell also hailed the importance of negotiating pension and health care reform with state employees—that are estimated to save $480 million over the next 15 years, the restocking of the Strategic Fund with nearly $32 million more dollars, and cuts in the gross receipts, bank franchise and personal income tax rates. The passage of civil unions legislation, as well as legislation allowing public school teachers to be hired earlier in the year were agenda items the governor also signed into law. Markell also touted additional funding of early childhood education initiatives, and for the state’s public colleges, the University of Delaware, Delaware State University and Delaware Technical and Community College.
“Each of those is important in their own right, but it’s also tied back to the economy,” Markell stated. “When you mention civil unions—it was the right thing to do, but beyond that, I’m already hearing from business owners throughout the state, particularly down at the beach, more and more people inquiring about celebrating their civil unions there. They’re going to be spending money on restaurants and hotels, on photographers and the like.”
Markell also pointed to some victories in public safety, including a measure that strengthens DUI laws involving drivers with multiple offenses. Three out of four bills addressing gun safety also made it to the Governor’s desk, with the exception of a bill designed to close the so-called “gun-show loophole“. “[That's] a lot more than people had expected [to get done],” said Markell. “There’s certainly still a lot more to do there, but I think that focus on public safety is important.”
Markell says he made strides in improving the way he works with the legislature over his first term in office, and admits that his business background did not always translate to governing.
“When it comes to things like putting together the budget, where you’ve got to work with members of the General Assembly, I’ve learned over the last couple of years how important it is for me to reach out, and for me to reach out more effectively,” said Markell, who says he looked to do more than his regular weekly lunch with the legislative leadership.
“This year, I really made an effort to sit down in really informal settings,” added Markell. “Could be few people in my office, maybe a few people over breakfast or lunch to sit down with no particular agenda, but really to hear them out, to hear what they think we ought to be focused on and to really engage with them that way.”
But Markell and legislators did disagree on a few subjects. The governor was disappointed the State Senate shot down his effort to eliminate the state’s Parole Board. He also had hoped legislators would follow through on his efforts to reign in Medicaid costs.
“The issue with Medicaid is it is a very big number, six hundred million dollars a year and growing very rapidly, and it is not sustainable,” said Markell. “The General Assembly and the Joint Finance Committee did not take me up on the suggestion of limiting how much we spend on people for visiting emergency rooms for non emergencies. So we are going to be back, we have to be back on [Medicaid costs] again next year.”
One issue Markell is walking away from is casino expansion.
“I had made a commitment last year to Rep. Schwartzkopf that if he made some changes to his proposed bill, I would support him and try to get it done,” said Markell. “We tried to get it done earlier this session and it didn’t happen. And I’ve moved on. There does not seem to be a significant level of support in the assembly I think that there are lots of other things that we can and must do to create jobs.”
And Markell says sluggish economic recovery both in Delaware and nationwide means his focus on job creation will remain when the legislature reconvenes in January.
“We do not have [a strong recovery] so our responsibility is to do everything that we can in Delaware to make sure we are doing better than we would do otherwise, that we are in a better position than other states, and in the case of the budget specifically to make the decisions as we made them. To set aside funds for a one time basis as opposed to building them into the budget where we would have to make very painful cuts in the future,” said Markell.
