OPINION COLUMN
By State House Republican Leader Tim Dukes
& State House Republican Whip Jeff Spiegelman
The federal government has announced that it is withdrawing approximately $12 billion worth of public health grants issued as part of the COVID-19 relief efforts, including $38 million allocated to government and non-profit agencies in Delaware.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a…pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” said a statement issued to multiple news organizations.
The hyperbolic reaction from Governor Matt Meyer was disappointingly partisan. “The Trump Administration is stealing $38 million from Delaware that goes directly towards funding key public health programs,” he said in a press release.
The clock was already ticking on the federal money. Some of the block grants were reportedly set to expire later this year, with the remainder running out in 2026 and 2027.
While we regret curtailing any beneficial program, we view the reductions as a sign that the federal government may finally be addressing its irresponsible spending. Setting aside the polarizing discussion of the federal policies, it is undeniable that the nation’s debt has reached epic proportions. Growing steadily for more than four decades, the U.S. now owes its creditors more than $35 trillion. Taxpayers spend over $1 trillion annually just to pay the interest.
Delaware, despite our statutory requirement to enact balanced budgets, has also demonstrated a lack of fiscal responsibility in recent years—a pattern the Meyer Administration seems intent on continuing.
Gov. Meyer recently unveiled his “budget reset,” containing a series of proposed changes. While the administration acknowledged Delaware’s flat revenue growth, the governor’s revised $6.58 billion spending plan is an increase of about 7.4% over the current $6.1 billion budget.
If the Meyer plan is enacted in time for the start of the new fiscal year on July 1st, state spending will be more than $2 billion higher than it was just five years ago—an astonishing hike of more than 45%! There are few Delawareans who have seen their income or buying power grow at this rate over the same period.
In his reset, the governor had the opportunity to adjust state spending to match our state’s slowing fortunes. Instead, he doubled down, projecting significantly higher budget growth over the next few years and paying for the overruns by using safety net funds.
Office of Management and Budget Director Brian Maxwell indicated during the governor’s reset presentation that the new administration not only envisions spending the $469 million in the Budget Stabilization Fund, but that within two years, the state could face a nearly half-billion-dollar shortfall. Planning to spend money faster than it comes in is a blueprint for failure.
Delaware’s working parents and small business owners know the brutal reality of cold math. They understand that income is finite, priorities must be established, and difficult choices made. As their chosen leaders, should they expect anything less of us?
Instead of the increased spending, higher taxes, and fees proposed by the governor, we believe the executive and legislative branches should work together with a shared sense of bipartisan purpose, identifying our most pressing needs, setting aside less urgent wants, and ensuring our resources are spent in ways that benefit all Delawareans.
Let’s reduce the size of the upcoming budget to reflect our slower revenue growth, look for efficiencies, curtail unproductive programs, and seek opportunities to re-allocate money where it will do the most good, including backfilling the loss of federal funds, where warranted. Let’s consider placing our state on a firm financial footing for the future by adopting binding protocols that link future spending growth to inflation, population growth, and other quantifiable, justifiable metrics.
We must be good curators of Delaware’s financial present and future. Now is the time for us to make the tough, responsible decisions that Delawareans expect and deserve.
