To use an old cliché, thanks to the miracle of modern technology, I’m writing this from a hotel room in Orlando, Fla., where we’re taking a few days to visit the Walt Disney and Universal resorts with our grandchildren.
Because of the Internet, I’ve been able to listen to local radio, watch local newscasts and scan the papers and press releases; it’s almost as if I’ve not left Dover at all.
One thing that caught my eye is the continuing debate over Delaware’s state budget. With barely two weeks left until June 30, when the General Assembly must pass a balanced budget, it appears our legislators still have major problems to overcome.
It’s the same down South. In Georgia, which we passed through Friday, they’re arguing over having to make additional cuts, having already balanced the state budget. The reason? Declining revenues, just like in Delaware. The need to cut is obvious, according to an editorial in the Savannah Morning News, but so is the need to raise more revenue.
A Georgia legislator is suggesting raising the state’s cigarette tax, which is one of the lowest in the nation. It’s another “sin tax,” to be sure, and an initial proposal for it fell short in January. This time it probably stands a better chance.
Being away from the First State for a few days and seeing how things are in other locales has helped open my eyes a bit. Traveling through Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, we’ve seen plenty of closed down stores and empty retail buildings, from traditional Mom and Pops to big box stores. It really shows the recession has hit hard, and that Delaware is not the only state struggling with finances.
Even the crowds at the Kennedy Space Center, where we planned to watch Endeavour launch toward the space station, are down, according to workers there and at hotels and dining spots in and around the Space Coast.
Meeting Delaware’s mandatory June 30 balanced budget deadline is not going to be easy. I’ve been there at midnight, and later, as legislators hammer out the final package, often without having the chance to read through what they’re voting on. It reminds me of some of the lines we’ve experienced at the Disney venues: at the beginning of the day, you stand in long lines, waiting an hour for a five-minute ride. But as the day gets longer, the sun gets hotter and the crowds eventually thin out, you can walk right into some of the more popular venues.
Hopefully, the calls from forward-thinking legislators who want to make serious cuts in the fat surrounding Delaware’s budget waistline will get hotter, and the public’s patience with legislative turf protection will thin.
Perhaps then we’ll see some real progressive thinking, and the early morning hours of July 1 will see Gov. Jack Markell sign a budget that doesn’t severely slash state services, delve too deeply into the pockets of state workers or add crippling new taxes for people who are struggling to support their families.
Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com
