DOVER - A day after her spokesman said "panic and fear" would result if proposed budget cuts became public, Gov. Ruth Ann Minner maintained the proposals would remain secret.
Gov. Minner said her decision to invoke executive privilege marked the first time she has exercised those powers. She is blocking the release of lists submitted to her office by state agencies that outline potential, specific budgetary reductions.
Last month, Gov. Minner directed agencies to identify savings in response to forecasts that estimated a $95 million revenue shortfall for this fiscal year. The cuts, averaging 3 percent, are expected to save $35 million.
"There are proposals I may accept and proposals I may not accept," Gov. Minner said Wednesday at an event in Wilmington.
"I do not think we should put all of that out there before I have decided which way to go. I understand the public wanting to know, but we just need to sort through the process first."
The public should understand that any area or program could be cut, Gov. Minner said.
"If they want to know, they should pull out the budget," she said. "Everything is on the table."
Gov. Minner said she would likely announce the spending cuts later this month. Some of the reductions, she said, will be continued in the fiscal 2004 budget. Revenue forecasts for that year have dropped $135 million.
Executive privilege powers allow the president to keep certain information from the public domain. In 1995, a Delaware Superior Court ruling extended the power to the state's governor.
Gregory B. Patterson, Gov. Minner's spokesman, said Tuesday that releasing to the public which cuts are being considered "would cause panic and fear."
Mr. Patterson said Wednesday that Gov. Minner did not share those views and that he did not expect his quote Tuesday to end up in print.
"That was something I said as a joke that was never intended to be published," he said.
Meanwhile, a senior state budget official clarified the process the administration is using to determine the approximately $35 million in "discretionary" budget cuts ordered by Gov. Minner.
Deputy Budget Director Robert L. Scoglietti said the budget office first looked at all agencies to identify spending areas in the fiscal 2003 operating budget that could not be reduced, such as debt service payments and monies appropriated to school districts.
"The Delaware Code says we have to allocate the state's share of funds to school districts based on the number of students enrolled," he said. "We had to subtract that out."
While not every agency or department in the state carries debt for capital costs, Mr. Scoglietti said many do.
"We have to pay debt service," he said. "You can't cut that. We have about $120 million that is owned on general-obligation bonds in the fiscal year."
Mr. Scoglietti said debt service obligations, as well as other spending considered mandatory, was deducted from each agency's overall budget.
What was left was targeted for general-fund reductions to comply with Gov. Minner's order.
Based on the governor's request that $35 million be sliced, the resulting "non-discretionary'' operating budget comes in at roughly $1.167 billion.
According to an agency-by-agency breakdown released by the budget office last week, some departments are being asked to cut almost exactly 3 percent of their 2003 spending, while others are not.
For example, the judiciary's approved fiscal 2003 budget is $65,547,000. Three percent of that figure is $1,966,410. According to the targeted reduction list released by the budget office, the judiciary is being asked to trim $1,955,000 from its spending this year.
Mr. Scoglietti said a contrast would be the Delaware Health Care Commission. Although the commission's 2003 budget is $2,574,800, the great majority is earmarked for medical and dental scholarships in the state.
He said that after scholarship payments are deducted, the commission is left with a "discretionary spending" budget of $361,800. Three percent of that is $11,000, and that is the amount targeted for cutting in the budget office's projections.
Mr. Scoglietti said final budget cuts would be determined by the governor and the budget office.
"If we feel some of the reductions submitted by the agencies are not appropriate, we would work with them to make sure the overall impact would be as minimal as possible," he said.
Mr. Scoglietti said no layoffs will occur as a result of the budget cuts. Agency directors will have the option of eliminating vacant positions only.
Delaware State University political science professor Dr. Samuel B. Hoff said the governor misused her executive privilege powers, which are not listed in the U.S. or state constitutions.
Dr. Hoff cited the example of President Nixon, who in 1974, was ordered to turn over tapes in the Watergate scandal he initially had withheld under executive privilege.
The use of executive privilege in Gov. Minner's case is more of a political exercise, Dr. Hoff said.
"The governor asked for places to cut the budget," he said. "She probably doesn't see this as a good time to release possible areas of reduction. These are politically sensitive times. Releasing the information now might result in interest groups and legislators criticizing her.
"I think this will cause concern and fear, which they're trying to prevent. This is a classic political use of extra-constitutional power that causes people to raise eyebrows."
Invoking executive privilege creates a public perception, said Ellen O. Wasfi, acting president of the League of Women Voters of Greater Dover.
"Saying stuff like 'This will cause panic' will cause panic," she said. "If there is a perception that the public doesn't have knowledge, there is a lack of trust."
Ms. Wasfi said the essence of democracy is transparency, or access to information. Limiting access places parameters on the public process.
"That's a bad road to travel down," she said.
John Flaherty, a lobbyist for the government-watchdog group Common Cause Delaware, said there should be a public process involving the people and General Assembly.
"There needs to be a greater involvement of the public in this process rather than fearing public reaction," he said. "I don't think executive privilege is warranted.
"I think this is more of a political shield."
Mr. Flaherty said the budget was passed based on revenue figures that in hindsight were rosy.
"The solution is to draw input and concerns from the public rather than this 'go it alone' attitude," he said. "These are tough times, but the way to get through it is with public input."
Staff writers Jason Cooke, Bill Potter and Drew Volturo contributed to this article.
Tom Eldred can be reached at 741-8212 or teldred@newszap.com.
Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com.
