Listening to Gov. Jack Markell’s budget presentation last week was not an experience for the faint of heart.
Just two months into his administration, the former state treasurer was required to tell Delawareans they face tax hikes, government cutbacks, the introduction of new gambling venues and, perhaps most significantly for state employees, a cut in pay.
The cut, which Markell said is temporary, would be combined with increased contributions to their health care plans, meaning state workers will be losing about 10% of their salaries beginning July 1.
Ask some Delawareans, especially those of a cynical bent, and they’ll say that’s just fine because state workers are overpaid and underworked.
In all fairness, that’s a statement that can be made about almost any business or governmental organization. But from my experience, the vast majority of people who draw their paychecks from the state of Delaware do not fit in this category.
While it is true the state’s budget has grown tremendously over the past dozen years or so, its obligations also have increased. Entitlement programs for its citizens have gone up just as entitlements for its employees have gone up. These are “door openers,” or costs budget writers say must be factored into any spending plan, and cannot simply be done away with. For good or for ill, they’ve been written into contracts and otherwise granted during good economic times. There’s no one, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, who can muster the support for freezing them or wiping them off the books when the economy heads south.
And many of these, such as costs for medical coverage, are factors the state can do little to control.
However, across-the-board cuts at a set percentage rate are not fair, especially to the people on the lowest rungs of the state employment ladder. The cuts, which may be necessary in addition to other measures Markell is taking to make up for a projected $750 million deficit, should be graduated. Unless they’ve overextended themselves financially — a factor that’s certainly possible — someone making a six-figure salary should not be living paycheck to paycheck. The worker at the bottom of the heap quite possibly is.
Markell’s proposed budget still must go through the legislative process and it’s a cinch it won’t emerge unscathed by the time June 30 rolls around. But one thing is for certain: the final result must be passed by that time and it must be balanced.
It will be interesting to see what it looks like in the end.
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The House of Representatives last week unanimously passed a bill putting the General Assembly under the same Freedom of Information Act rules as the rest of state government.
This is an action that is years overdue. A government that hides decision making from its citizens is one that automatically invites distrust from those same citizens.
HB 1 also included an amendment that would exempt emails from the FOIA requirements, using the argument these emails might contain personal information that should not be shared with anyone other than the legislator.
This is an idea that should be adopted in part. A single email can cover a wide range of subjects and there’s no reason whatsoever to exempt one entirely because it might contain a smidgen of personal data. Sen. Colin R.J. Bonini, R-Dover South, had it right when he suggested emails with personal data could be redacted before being released under a FOIA request.
But Bonini effectively reversed himself when he said he’d vote to approve the FOIA regulation changes, even without the email amendment.
Unlike the budget bill, this legislation does not have to be completed by the end of the fiscal year, and it’s not even a sure bet the Senate leadership will let it come to the floor at all.
Like the budget bill, it will be interesting to see what final form — if any — this legislation will take.
Email Jeff Brown at jeff.brown@doverpost.com.
