No pay hikes in Delaware budget proposal
By Randall Chase, Associated Press
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DOVER - With revenues down because of the recession and health-care costs rising, Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner on Thursday proposed a bare-bones state budget.
Gov. Minner's proposed fiscal 2003 operating budget of $2.35 billion represents a 2.2 percent increase from the current fiscal year, the smallest increase in a decade. It does not include a pay raise for most state employees or funding for more reading specialists in elementary schools, one of the governor's pet projects.
The governor's blueprint includes just $50 million in new spending. More than two-thirds of it would cover rising costs for Medicaid and state employee health care coverage.
Spending for construction, transportation and other capital projects totals $348 million, down from $436 million this fiscal year and $590 million in fiscal 2001. For the first time in 11 years, no cash from the general fund was added to the capital budget.
Total spending for the state's volunteer fire companies and other nonprofit groups, meanwhile, remains unchanged at $37 million.
"There are many things that we would like to have done which we left out," Gov. Minner said.
"The bottom line is we have made tough choices but live within our means. The result is a budget without any major new initiatives, without any increases in most areas."
Rep. J. Benjamin Ewing, R-Bridgeville, predicted that Gov. Minner's budget would not be drastically reworked by the legislature.
"I am sure they did enough research," Rep. Ewing said. "But we will take a good look at it."
Rep. Ewing noted that lawmakers did not receive the proposal until Thursday afternoon, just before the General Assembly convened. This did not give legislators much time to review the spending proposal, he said.
Gov. Minner and budget director Peter M. Ross said Delaware still is in better shape than many other states, some of which have dipped into reserve funds or laid off state employees.
"We're one of the few states that can use the word 'growth,' " albeit marginal, Mr. Ross said.
Gov. Minner's proposed budget comes within $23,000 of the state budget limit - 98 percent of projected revenues. It does not, however, dip into the state's "rainy day fund" of about $128 million, nor does it include any layoffs or tax increases.
"This has not been a fun budget, but it is one that is fiscally sound," Gov. Minner said.
Since taking office a year ago, Gov. Minner has made three rounds of budget cuts because of declining revenues. In December, she ordered state agencies to trim almost $24 million from the current fiscal year's budget. Many of those cuts were continued in the budget proposed Thursday, officials said, but they won't be obvious.
"Most of the cuts don't dig into direct services to citizens," Mr. Ross said.
Budget officials received about $200 million in new spending requests from state agencies for the fiscal year starting July 1, but they had to sharpen their pencils after projections for additional revenue fell from $146 million in September to just more than $1 million in December.
"I felt like Scrooge just before Christmas," Gov. Minner said. "We spent hours just cutting budgets and cutting budgets."
Gov. Minner said her first priority if revenues grow unexpectedly would be a pay raise for state employees. But if Congress approves an economic stimulus package or more school districts pass bond referenda for construction needs, budget officials will have to go back and look for more cuts, she warned.
Gov. Minner's proposed budget will now be considered by members of the legislature's joint finance and bond bill committees.
"We're still in a reasonable position," said Rep. Joseph DiPinto, R-Wilmington West, chairman of the Joint Finance Committee. "This is a situation to be introspective, to really look at programs. We'll behave as prudently as we can."
Staff writer Joe Rogalsky contributed to this article.
