Delaware Online by Doug Denison
DOVER – Gov. Jack Markell sent legislators a $3.54 billion spending plan today that accounts for growth in public schools and in the number of Delawareans who depend on the government for health care.
The proposed operating budget fills a $27.4 million gap in school operations spending that was expected to begin in the next school year after one-time federal stimulus funding dried up.
“This was the schools’ No. 1 priority,” said Ann Visalli, director of the Office of Management and Budget.
The budget plan pays for hiring 111 new teachers at a cost of $8.7 million to account for projected growth in public school enrollment next year.
Markell, who is up for re-election this year, proposes no tax or fee increases to pay for a 1 percent increase in spending in the 2013 fiscal year, which begins July 1.
“We believe this budget reflects responsible governing as well,” Markell told reporters.
Medicaid program administrators assume enrollment for the health insurance program for the poor and disabled will grow by 20,000 during the next fiscal year to 234,000 – or one in four Delawareans.
Markell has budgeted $21.7 million extra for Medicaid next year, but he proposed no specific cuts to the program. The increased spending assumes the Department of Health and Social Services will find some internal ways to contain costs, Visalli said.
Last year, the governor’s proposal to trim $5 million from Medicaid was rejected by lawmakers, who enjoyed a short-lived spending spree at the time thanks to a temporary spike in tax and unclaimed-property revenue.
Markell’s proposed budget continues to fund education-related programs that have been his priorities in the past. The spending plan includes $3.5 million more for early childhood and day care programs, up from $22 million that Markell and the Legislature added to programs last year when additional revenue came on the table.
The governor does propose spending cuts throughout state government next year, Visalli said.
But a budget presentation given to reporters in advance of Markell’s 1 p.m. public unveiling of the plan made no mention of actual cuts, unlike past briefings.
Some of the reduced spending were one-time expenditures, Visalli said, such as a $54 million added expense this fiscal year for a rare 27th pay week for state workers. With the calendar returning to 26 paydays next fiscal year, that gave the governor more room to spend. Other areas did not get fully funded to the levels that agencies or special interest groups requested, Visalli said. Programs that preserve farmland and open space by purchasing development rights got $4 million in Markell’s capital budget, though the programs were funded at $20 million this year, Visalli said. Last year, Markell and lawmakers poured tens of millions of surplus funds into one-time initiatives with hopes of spurring job creation and the state’s stagnant economy. The Legislature created a new $55 million fund to pay for infrastructure improvements for economic development projects. Last month, a state committee awarded the first $4 million grant to Amazon.com to extend or improve two roads leading up to a regional fulfillment center the online retail giant plans to build in west Middletown. Markell’s capital improvements budget in the Bond Bill does not include any new money for the New Jobs Infrastructure Fund. But if spring tax collections beat projections, it could be a program that gets more money. “Hopefully, depending on how things progress in the spring, we’ll be able to do that,” Visalli told reporters. The governor has also proposed a $30 million boost to the state’s Strategic Fund, which is used to attract businesses to the state with tax breaks, loans and grants. Last year’s Strategic Fund appropriation was $31 million. On Tuesday, the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee will begin six weeks of hearings on the governor’s spending proposal.
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