Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson's Weekly Message
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Delaware’s Senate Minority Leader Gary Simpson used the newly-launched Weekly Republican Message to address Delaware’s estimated $7 million drop in revenue for the coming fiscal year.
Simpson says that this is just the latest financial setback as the state’s economy fails to grow at the same pace as its budget.
Simpson says Governor Markell’s now failed gas tax increase proposal and his call for a new fee to pay to clean up state waters were the wrong approach to dealing with budget issues.
“Thanks to a group of Republican lawmakers unwilling to budge from a “no-tax” stance, and the countless Delawareans who have made their feelings known, these taxes likely won’t see the light of day,” said Simpson.
Simpson instead argues for what he calls a more organic approach – such as creating right-to-work zones which he says would help create jobs and attract new businesses to Delaware – and reducing regulations on businesses that are already in the state.
According to Simpson, bills that accomplish these approaches already exist, but are being held-up in committees by Democratic leaders.
Full text of Senator Simpson's weekly message
Earlier this week, a state advisory panel that sets Delaware’s revenue projections once again delivered bad news: Revenue estimates for the fiscal year that begins July 1st dropped by another seven million dollars.
This is just the latest setback for an economy that is simply not keeping pace with the rest of the nation and not even generating enough growth to fund even our state’s most basic needs. Yet our budget continues to grow.
To close the gap, the governor has pushed for a 10-cent-per-gallon gas tax increase and an additional state-wide property tax. But thanks to a group of Republican lawmakers unwilling to budge from a “no-tax” stance, and the countless Delawareans who have made their feelings known, these taxes likely won’t see the light of day.
Our state’s proclivity for taxing and spending is the wrong approach to growing the economy.
Senate and House Republicans have advocated a more organic approach. Among our ideas, creating right-to-work zones which would help create jobs and attract new businesses to Delaware.
We also need to look at whether recalculating prevailing wage will create more public projects and put more Delawareans back to work.
And once and for all we need to do a better job reducing the burden of regulations on Delaware businesses.
These policy-shifting bills already exist. But many of them are trapped in committees by Democratic leaders unwilling to give them a fair chance.
With just four working days remaining in this legislative session, we will continue to push these and other creative ways to kick-start our long-suffering economy. It’s time to bring that business-friendly climate back to Delaware.
Thank you.
