DSCC Legislative Agenda
One of the things that set a state chamber of commerce apart from local chambers is a commitment to legislative advocacy. Since its inception in 1837 as the Wilmington Board of Trade, the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce has provided a voice in the halls of government for businesses of all sizes.

The State Chamber achieved a major legislative victory during the first few weeks of the legislative session with the passage of Senate Bill 1, which implemented the most comprehensive update of Delaware’s workers compensation statute since its inception in 1915. Much work remains to be done on other fronts, however, to give Delaware’s businesses the ability to compete in an ever-changing global marketplace.

Workers Compensation

Delaware’s workers compensation system is now on the road to being competitive with the workers compensation systems in neighboring states. The changes mandated by SB 1 will make it easier for companies to control medical costs, manage cases and lessen the amount and length of litigation – all while ensuring that injured workers will receive the most up-to-date medical treatment to get them healthy and back to work more quickly. 

Implementing SB 1 will take some time. The Medical Advisory Committee must be appointed by the Governor and approved by the Senate. This committee will spend the coming months establishing the fee schedule for medical providers, along with treatment protocols. At the same time a committee appointed by the Insurance Commissioner will determine what data relevant to workers compensation costs needs to be collected, and how this data can be used to measure the impact of the new statute. While this process is in motion, workers compensation reform remains a key focus for the State Chamber.

Fiscal Responsibility

Over the last three years Delaware has seen the largest capital budgets in state history. Budget surpluses and a positive economic picture allowed the General Assembly to increase general fund spending. However, the outlook for future budgets is uncertain.

The Transportation Trust Fund remains under funded. DEFAC’s revenue projections for the remainder of FY07 and FY08 are conservative. Add in the challenge to the Delaware video lottery from Pennsylvania’s new slots venues, the potential job losses due to business restructuring, and the slowing housing market, and it becomes evident that the large spending increases of recent years must be curtailed. 

Delaware must be more innovative and energetic in finding new opportunities to attract business to our state and help existing businesses expand. A combination of these efforts will preserve Delaware’s economic and financial future. 

Education

The State Chamber’s education priorities are closely aligned with those of Vision 2015, a privately led comprehensive effort to make Delaware’s schools the best in the world by 2015.

We support efforts to permit Vision 2015 schools and/or school districts to begin operation in the fall of 2008. This will require some changes in the current public school law and some waiver of regulations by the Department of Education.

In addition, the State Chamber supports two study proposals that will lead to piloting Vision 2015 in schools next year. One is an independent cost reallocation study of the state’s public schools. The second is a study to develop a weighted or fair student funding system for Delaware. The latter study will build on the Delaware Public Policy Institute’s work on public school funding adequacy.

The full development and implementation of a performance dashboard that enables everyone to easily monitor student progress is another top priority of the State Chamber. We also support government funding for early care and education programs that are in alignment with the Vision 2015 model.

Health Care

Although health insurance costs are not climbing as steeply as in years past, they still continue their upward trend forcing small business owners and their employees to make difficult decisions regarding their level of health care coverage. The State Chamber believes that efforts to allow small businesses to pool together for the purpose of buying more affordable health insurance currently represents the best solution. The bill would also have the state subsidize catastrophic health insurance coverage to lower the cost to those businesses in the pool.  

The proposed small business pool is a worthwhile effort to help small business owners and their employees obtain less costly health insurance. The State Chamber commits to continue working with the state and other stakeholders to develop a plan that will lower the cost of health insurance.

Environmental Regulation

With robust domestic and foreign competition for manufacturing facilities and jobs, environmental regulation is an increasingly important consideration for economic development efforts. The State Chamber has been working with DNREC to redesign and streamline the process for issuing permits, using the best practices of other states that have efficient and effective permitting procedures.  This redesign will speed up the process without hurting regulatory requirements. The air emission permit process has been completed and work has begun on water, above-ground tanks and Brown field permitting.

It is time for Delaware to look at innovative means of addressing the problem of waste disposal and landfill capacity. Some states and countries have found trash-to-steam incineration to be an environmentally safe means of waste disposal.  Furthermore, this method has been proven to be an efficient means of supplying energy. In order to implement this type of waste disposal system in Delaware, the General Assembly must remove or amend the statute that places unreasonable restrictions on the placement of a trash-to-steam facility in our state. The State Chamber believes the appropriate time to address this restrictive law is now.

Retail

Delaware is proud of its tax-free shopping. Unfortunately our retailers are paying a hidden expense in organized retail theft. Our proximity to I-95 and the New Jersey Turnpike makes us an easy target. The State Chamber has been working on legislation to deter organized retail theft and its negative affect on the bottom line.

Our goal is to differentiate organized retail crime from shoplifting based on intent to sell. Proposed legislation would make organized retail theft a felony regardless of the dollar amount. We are also pushing to allow multiple counts of retail theft to be combined into one charge, helping push it above the felony threshold. 

Our tax-free shopping attracts many visitors from out of state and contributes to our quality of life. We must support the retail community in their battle against criminal activity.

The Chamber has identified the above topics as its top priorities for the first session of the 144th General Assembly. The Chamber will closely monitor other areas of interest pertaining to banking, taxes, energy, employee relations and medical malpractice insurance costs.

For answers to questions or additional information, please contact A. Richard Heffron, Senior VP for Government Affairs, at (302) 576-6563, or by e-mail at rheffron@dscc.com. We look forward to a productive year.

Delaware State Chamber of Commerce
1201 N. Orange Street, PO Box 671
Wilmington, DE 19899-0671
(302) 655-7221