Governor Matt Meyer today called the General Assembly to an extraordinary session to address a projected $400 million revenue shortfall over the next three years.
In a prepared release, the governor was quick to lay partisan blame for the problem. “We’re staring down a $400 million shortfall because Washington keeps handing out tax breaks to the wealthy while working people get left behind,” he said.
The governor’s comments reference the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), which was signed into law in early July. Delaware, like other states, links portions of its tax laws to the federal code, so the cuts and incentives made in the OBBBA will have an impact here.
The General Assembly is expected to consider proposals that will “decouple” aspects of Delaware’s tax code from some of the changes in the omnibus OBBBA.
However, while criticizing the president and Congress, the governor did not detail the budgetary impacts of spending decisions made by his administration, the previous administration, or those of the House and Senate Democrats who control the state budget-writing process.
The following data reflects actual state spending recorded at the end of each fiscal year. In Fiscal Year 2021, as the pandemic receded, the state spent nearly $4.52 billion, a figure nearly identical to that of the previous year. The following year, spending rose 11.9%. In FY 2023, it jumped 15.9%. The year after that, a 6.3% hike. Last fiscal year, another 11.1% increase.
Comparing FY 2021 to FY 2025, spending increased by $2.4063 billion, or more than 53.2%, creating a larger burden of ongoing expenses that budget writers need to factor in at the start of each budget cycle.
The General Assembly will return to Dover on Thursday, November 13, at 12 p.m.
