Lawmakers note prison care, jobs not focused on

By PATRICK JACKSON, The News Journal

Posted Friday, January 19, 2007

DOVER -- Gov. Ruth Ann Minner talked about expanding scholarships, hinted at possibly leasing state highways and promised to fight suburban sprawl during her annual State of the State address.

Minner focused most of her Thursday address on health and education issues, saying she would add a second year of free cancer treatments for the uninsured, pay for cervical cancer vaccinations for uninsured teens and send "fitnessgrams" to the parents of all fourth-graders to combat childhood obesity.

She called for hiking the state's cigarette tax by 45 cents to raise $42 million for health care initiatives, which include programs addressing infant mortality and health disparities.

But Minner's hour-long speech was noteworthy for what she did not address: the shaky status of DaimlerChrysler's Newark plant, problems with health care in the state's prisons or threats to Delaware's slots revenue from competition in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

The lack of any discussion of a consent agreement the state signed with the federal Department of Justice committing to improvements in inmate health care disappointed Senate Minority Leader Charles Copeland, R-West Farms.

"I didn't think she would have laid out a plan," Copeland said. "But I at least thought she would have acknowledged that we have entered into a consent decree with the federal government and will be getting a new commissioner to deal with it."

Senate Majority Leader Anthony DeLuca, D-Newark East, and House Majority Leader Wayne A. Smith, R-Clair Manor, said they weren't shocked by the omission.

"The State of the State tends to be more of a pat-on-the-back speech," Smith said.

Minner did devote much of her address to lauding the state's sound economic footing, progress in raising test scores in public schools and maintaining a full array of Medicaid benefits for low-income residents despite swelling enrollment and declining federal aid.

Transportation money

She passed lightly over the state's road construction funding crunch, which was measured at $2.7 billion over six years by a task force in late 2005.

She said the state Department of Transportation and budget office officials have been able to shrink that gap to $1.5 billion, but offered no details on how. She also did not say how the remaining gap would be bridged except to say the task will require spending cuts and additional revenue.

Jennifer "JJ" Davis, director of the state's Office of Management and Budget, said the gap was cut from $2.7 billion to $1.5 billion with cost containment, making maximum use of federal aid, and putting projects on more realistic timetables.

Smith said he was intrigued by Minner's mention of using "nontraditional" funding sources to help pay for highway work. Nontraditional funding has been code for the idea of leasing roads over 50 or 99 years to private interests in exchange for billions of dollars.

"We will have to wait for the budget," Smith said. "The governor is clearly leaving leasing on the table."

That upset some people, like Citizens for Better Sussex President Joan Deaver, who thinks the state should drop the notion of leasing roads.

"It's a one-time windfall that really doesn't address the transportation problem," Deaver said. "We need a long-term solution, even if it has some long-term pain in it."

Keeping business here

Minner congratulated lawmakers for passing a reform of the state's workers' compensation insurance program this week, but never mentioned one of the driving factors behind the reform push -- DaimlerChrysler AG's looming decision on the fate of its Newark assembly plant.

The state's high workers' compensation rates are one factor working against the plant as the automaker considers its future.

"I was surprised that she didn't mention it. ... In fact, she didn't really talk a lot about the Delaware Economic Development Office," said Sen. Steve Amick, R-Newark South. "That's an important issue, and you would have thought it would have gotten more than a indirect mention."

Call for math specialists

Minner's education proposals include adding more math specialists in middle schools, continuing to finance full-day kindergarten programs, and offering tuition scholarships at the state's four-year colleges to high-achieving students already taking advantage of a community college scholarship program for low-income students.

On the environment, she pledged to again press for anti-sprawl legislation and stressed the need for recycling, although she backed away from her previous position that recycling should be mandatory.

Minner again called on lawmakers to increase the cigarette tax by 45 cents a pack to $1 per pack. At $1, Delaware would still have the area's lowest tax. Maryland is the second-lowest; it puts a 5 percent sales tax on top of its $1 per-pack cigarette tax.

But the plan got a chilly reception from House Republicans.

"I think it will have a pretty tough time in the House," said Rep. Pam Maier, R-Drummond Hill. "It would cut down on the number of teen smokers, but it's still a hard sell."