2010 DSCC Legislative Agenda
 

When determining what should be included in the 2010 Delaware State Chamber of Commerce’s legislative agenda for the second session of the 145th General Assembly, it is apparent that the citizens of Delaware will be facing another year with serious economic challenges. The primary question is what changes will be made during this coming session to address the fiscal challenges the state faces and encourage economic development? With this in mind, the State Chamber’s legislative agenda for 2010 will focus on:

State Fiscal Policy

Since the fall of 2008, the state’s revenue projections have decreased with each subsequent DEFAC meeting, until this past September when revenue projections increased based upon approval of fee and tax increases last June. Yet the September DEFAC revenue projections are approximately $300 million lower than budget requirements. The administration and the General Assembly will need to continue to:

• Study how state government functions;

• Take an even closer look at where taxpayers’ money is spent;

• Continue implementing restraints on state spending;

• Develop new revenue sources, without additional fee and tax increases;

• Reduce the unsustainable size of government in the state.

All of these efforts are a continuation of the difficult decisions that started last year, and these decisions will not be any easier going forward. It appears the recession is over, with economists predicting a long, slow growth pattern for the economy. Businesses, along with many of our state’s citizens, are still dealing with the financial squeeze; it’s not the time for government to take additional money out of their pockets. For the economy’s recovery to quicken, businesses and consumers must increase both investment and spending.

Call to Action: All state and local governments need to continue looking at cutting expenses and finding inefficiencies to balance their budgets. Tax and fee increases are not viable options while businesses are still attempting to climb out of a recession.

Public Education

Even though Delaware’s public schools have improved since 1995, they still fall short when it comes to dropout rates, test scores, and preparation for higher education and the job market. President Obama’s aggressive educational improvement plan, “Race to the Top,” headed by his innovative Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, will provide a new opportunity to further improve the state’s public school system. Required changes will include flexible decision making within each school, measuring student achievement on an ongoing basis, state responsibility for addressing failing schools and including student achievement as part of teacher accountability standards (To read more about Race to the Top, turn to page 16). Delaware’s businesses, along with community, education and government leaders, must continue cooperative efforts to develop a road map for helping Delaware’s public schools achieve world-class status. To meet these goals, it is imperative that implementation of the Vision 2015 plan be accelerated.

Call to Action: The state government, education community and citizens of Delaware must continue implementing the aggressive education reform agenda outlined in Vision 2015 and align with President Obama’s “Race to the Top” education improvement program. This cooperative agenda will provide our public school systems with the ability to achieve world class status.

Health Insurance

Health insurance costs paid by the state’s small businesses continue to climb. The constantly rising health insurance rates have forced small business owners to make difficult decisions about the level of health care coverage they can provide, and in an ever-growing number of cases, the unfortunate decision has been to discontinue coverage. Efforts in recent years to pass legislation with the intent of offering more affordable rates has been stymied by the state’s difficult fiscal situation. Governor Jack Markell correctly decided to wait for Congress and the president to enact federal health care reform legislation before proposing changes to the current state law. If the existing congressional effort to pass health care reform legislation is not successful, then Gov. Markell and the General Assembly will need to look seriously at proposals such as a small business purchasing pool and the formation of a catastrophic fund to help lower costs for small business. Two goals that must be the objective of any reform effort at the state or federal level are lowering health care costs and expanding coverage. To do this we need to address the most fundamental issue: how to finance these proposals. The State Chamber understands the enormity of finding a better means of supplying affordable health care to our members and their employees. We also understand the burden the current situation places upon Delaware’s small business owners and their employees. With this in mind, the State Chamber is committed to working with our national and state leaders and the health care stakeholders to develop a plan that can lower the cost of health insurance.

Call to Action: Whether at the state or federal level, business needs a health care insurance system that controls costs and provides the ability for everyone to obtain coverage.

Energy

Energy independence, coupled with stable supply and a reasonable cost structure, is critical to the continued growth of our state’s economy. The purchase of Bluewater Wind by NRG will provide the investment necessary to move ahead with the construction of an offshore wind farm. Ongoing discussions with our neighboring states regarding a regional approach to providing wind power presents another path for successfully moving ahead with this project. This is not the only opportunity for our state. Delmarva Power, along with other energy providers, are working hard at finding alternative sources of renewable energy that can not only meet Delaware’s demand, but also offer opportunities for economic development.

Call to Action: Delaware must take advantage of its unique opportunities to become a leader in providing clean, reasonably priced energy for its citizens and businesses.

Infrastructure

Successful economic development efforts can only succeed if the required transportation, water/wastewater and telecommunications infrastructure is in place. Projects that will provide Delaware with the needed infrastructure are best accomplished through public/private partnerships. To be successful, our leaders must be innovative in creating partnership opportunities. Two good examples are Artesian Water’s proposal to construct and manage a southern New Castle County sewer system, and the NRG/Bluewater Wind offshore wind project. Offers to privatize infrastructure have been discussed in the past and should continue to receive consideration. This is especially important during this period when state finances are under pressure. The proper investment in infrastructure will foster economic growth.

Call to Action: Delaware needs to continue serious consideration of all possibilities of private/public partnerships that will help to increase and enhance our state’s infrastructure.

Economic Development

All of the topics discussed in the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce 2010 Legislative Agenda are essential ingredients for a strategy to foster economic development. During Gov. Markell’s first year, progress has been made with efforts to expand the partnership with our institutions of higher education, finding means of generating greater access to venture capital, streamlining the government permitting and regulatory process, looking for global market opportunities and aggressively promoting what Delaware has to offer to existing and new businesses. Some of the more recent successes include the cooperative agreement between the University of Delaware, Christiana Care, A.I. duPont Hospital, and Jefferson University Hospital for health care training and research, the purchase of the General Motors plant by Fisker Automotive and the Delaware Economic Development Office’s LIFT program for small business lending. These projects are a good start, but the work continues, especially in developing a cooperative and coordinated permitting and regulatory system.

Call to Action: We must continue the efforts that have proved to be successful in the past year. This ongoing effort to find new business ventures and support existing business will create jobs and produce income for Delaware’s citizens.

Federal Legislation

We will be keeping a close watch on federal legislation that will change our health care delivery system, address climate change, alter the way that workers can choose to form a union and challenge Delaware’s position as the corporate capital of the world. The message to our congressional delegation is that the outcome of these legislative efforts can have a profound affect on the Delaware business community. It is important that we provide affordable health care, meet the challenges of efficient energy production and climate change, protect the workers’ rights and address corporate abuse in a way that does not unfairly hurt Delaware’s business.

Call to Action: Make certain that our representatives in Washington understand the consequences of federal legislation for Delaware and its business community.

Over the past 15 months, Delawareans have been required to meet some of the most difficult challenges we have faced since the 1970s. Working together, business and the state are beginning to find success in addressing these challenges in what has been a unique chapter in our state’s history.

For additional information, please contact A. Richard Heffron, Senior VP for Government Affairs, at (302) 576-6563, or by e-mail at rheffron@dscc.com.

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