FY04 Budget Signing – June 25, 2003
On Monday morning, the front page of USA Today featured a survey of the states and how they have fared financially over the last several years.
Delaware and two other states were singled out as the “best financial stewards” in the nation. The survey stated: “After the economy weakened in early 2001, they acted swiftly and decisively to keep their finances sound.”
The conclusion of the study is that what separates the few states that are on stable financial footing from the many in crisis is “the ability of governors and legislators to manage money wisely.”
Managing Delaware’s money wisely is exactly what we sought to do when I proposed a budget and revenue package in January. And the members of the General Assembly took hold of that goal and carried it forward, passing a balanced and responsible revenue package last week and approving this budget this week.
This is a budget that is without bells and whistles, without a lot of new programs or initiatives. What it does, though, is something virtually no other state has been able to do: maintain basic state services for the people of our state who need and deserve them.
Unlike other states, we have not slashed Medicaid benefits, we have not eliminated health care coverage, we have not laid off teachers, we have not closed parks and museums and we have not laid off state employees. Look around at other states, talk to other governors or legislators, and you will find that is a major accomplishment.
The Fiscal Year 2004 budget I am preparing to sign shrinks state government by permanently eliminating 431 General Fund positions. It enhances our preparedness by creating a new Department of Safety and Homeland Security. It addresses the critical issue of cancer in our state by devoting $5 million to cover the cost of cancer screening and treatment for the uninsured.
Even as times are tight, this budget shows our priorities by covering the costs of new students in our classrooms and covering the increased health care costs for the most needy Delawareans. It includes more money for foster care, for adult education and for continuing to move disabled citizens into community settings.
This budget accommodates the ever-growing costs of our obligations to the people of Delaware but maintains the growth of our budget at 2.2 percent, the lowest rate in 12 years.
We kept growth to a minimum by instituting about $150 million in cuts and savings – and that was on top of the nearly $200 million in cuts and savings we made from January 2001 to January 2003.
The capital budget I will sign is the recipient of a significant amount of one-time revenue and that is as it should be. One-time revenue should go to one-time uses and it has, preserving the integrity of our operating budget.
The capital budget includes $130 million for school construction, $52 million more than I proposed in January, and I couldn’t be more pleased with that. The bond bill includes funding for a badly needed DMV facility in Sussex County, for preserving and creating jobs, for farmland preservation and for making our state safer.
In January, I said the key to solving our $300 million structural budget problem would be to act the way any Delaware family would in managing its finances. The USA Today article made the same point: “The principles of good financial management at the state level are the same as those for a household: Balance what you spend with what you make, or you’re headed for trouble.”
Delaware has avoided the troubles that have befallen nearly every other state because of the tough choices we have been willing to make in these tough times. And we have done them together, without regard for party or politics – the Delaware way.
The members of the General Assembly, the business community, advocates for many causes and issues, Delawareans of every type, and the administration – we all joined together to address Delaware’s toughest budget crisis in more than a decade, and did so in a way that should mean it need not be addressed again anytime soon.
I thank the legislators, with special recognition of the members of the Joint Finance and Bond Bill committees, the leaders in each chamber, the Controller General’s office and the many, many people in the Budget Office and the executive branch who made this possible.
Like so many of my moments as Governor, this moment is a proud one for me because I know that we are doing the right and responsible thing, and we have done it in a way that should make the people of Delaware proud.
Thank you.
