Governor John Carney unveils budget for Fiscal Year 2022
DELAWARE – Delaware Governor John Carney unveiled his recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2022 budget Thursday. Funding for education and rebuilding Delaware’s economy were two of the big focal points. The state has $47 billion dollars to do so for FY22. “We promised to build a long term, sustainable budget to go into the future not just one year at a time. We kept that promise and built up additional reserves and we balanced the budget,” said Gov. Carney.
While some local legislators say they’re pleased to see a balanced budget in the midst of a pandemic. “It could have been a whole lot worse. We could have been looking at significant cuts or real pressure for tax increases right now. But we’re not looking at either,” said State Senator Brian Pettyjohn.
But Sen. Pettyjohn also says the real questions will start flowing once the budget is finalized. “The budget presentation is a real high level view of what the governor wants to do. The devil really is in the details,” said Sen. Pettyjohn.
One of the main topics of the presentation was funding for education. In Sussex County, public schools will be getting more than $48 million. But legislators say that will only make a dent if the state follows through on its promises to improve education. “We have to make sure that it’s effective where we’re spending the money. Too often in state government, we’re good at throwing money at projects,” said Representative Timothy Dukes.
Legislators also questioned whether raising all state employees’ pay to at least $15 an hour could be a hint at Delaware moving toward adopting a $15 minimum wage for everyone. “It just sends a strong signal that maybe there’s something afoot with regard to the minimum wage. He might be playing in to have his colleagues in the General Assembly to be able to do that,” said Representative Daniel Short.
The budget recommendations are set to be reviewed by April or May. Governor Carney says the final version should be ready in June. Fiscal Year 2022 starts on July 1st.
