State of the state strong but fiscal restraint urged

The state of the state is strong and getting stronger, Gov. John Carney told an audience Jan. 17 as he delivered his State of the State address.

In the past two years, he said, 10,000 new jobs have come to Delaware, and the unemployment rate has fallen to 3.8 percent – the lowest since 2008.

Carney said he expects hundreds of new jobs with the expansion of the Port of Wilmington, and there is more business potential at 14 abandoned industrial sites within the Coastal Zone. Opportunity Zones created under new federal tax law could create more jobs in Seaford, Milford and former industrial sites that have been shuttered for years.

“[Delawareans] think it’s a win when we get something done. Not when we score political points. They don’t want us to shut down the government. They want us to make the government work for them,” Carney said in reference to the ongoing partial federal shutdown.

To attract new business, Carney said, plans are already in place to eliminate broadband deserts in southern Delaware and provide universal high-speed internet coverage for residents and businesses. More than $3 billion has been earmarked to improve infrastructure through 2025 to improve roads and bridges, and create pedestrian-friendly streets, he said.

“This year, I’m proposing to create a new Transportation Infrastructure Investment Fund that would help the state to react quickly to important economic development projects. We’re going to invest $10 million in this new fund,” Carney said.

More investment will go into education, he said, noting a program he had announced days earlier that would give $60 million to school districts over three years to target low-income students and English language learners.

Carney said a new commission will evaluate results and best practices to create a new plan to help disadvantaged students succeed in school.

“We can all agree that we need to do something dramatic to help these students,” he said. “But here’s what we can’t do. We can’t just throw money at the problem. Simply spending more is not a guaranteed solution.”

Carney said he will continue spending controls outlined in budget-smoothing legislation designed to prevent revenue shortfalls during economic downturns. Although the Legislature failed to pass the bill to set budget limits in the state constitution, Carney moved forward with an executive order for this year's budget, creating a reserve fund and limiting spending based on revenue growth. Carney will release his fiscal year 2020 budget Thursday, Jan. 24.

“Making responsible budget decisions now will let us fund the services Delawareans rely on when money gets tight in the future, and we know it will,” he said.

Work also continues on reining in healthcare costs. “We need to know what factors are driving these higher costs and how we can change the trends,” he said.

Moving forward into this legislative session, he said, Senate President Pro Tempore David McBride has pledged to bring an assault weapons bill up for a full, open debate. A bill that would have prohibited the sale, transport, purchase, receipt or possession of 45 brand name assault long guns, 19 brand name pistols and also semiautomatic copycat weapons was defeated last session when it failed in Senate committee.

Carney said he also plans to support a bill that would raise the age to purchase cigarettes from 18 to 21.

“Government can’t solve every problem, and we shouldn’t try. But we sure can make a real difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors,” Carney said.