Governor Jack Markell's Weekly Message
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In his weekly message, Gov. Jack Markell highlighted initiatives passed during the just concluded 147th General Assembly that he believes will have an impact.
Markell cited legislation reducing workers compensation insurance rates and a plan to attract quality teachers to the First State. He also drew attention to measures that help students earn professional manufacturing experience and reintegrate ex-criminal offenders into the First State’s workforce.
Markell says taken together these efforts will help a broad spectrum of Delawareans.
"We can only reach our potential as a state if we maximize the potential of our people, and at the core of that mission is our responsibility to ensure economic opportunity is available for all Delawareans," said Markell
The governor added that his Downtown Development Districts plan, which was fully funded at $7 million, is another important tool to unlock the state’s “untapped potential.”
Markell also applauded lawmakers’ ability to deliver these initiatives while maintaining a balanced budget and a AAA bond rating.
Full text of Governor Jack Markell’s weekly message
We can only reach our potential as a state if we maximize the potential of our people. At the core of that mission is our responsibility to ensure economic opportunity is available for all Delawareans. While our work toward that goal never ends, we can be proud of the progress made toward that goal during the legislative season that ended this week.
We supported our job creators by reducing workers compensation rates to bring down the cost of doing business, while increasing tax credits for small businesses and investing in innovative research and development.
We have improved access to the education and training Delawareans need by giving students the chance to receive exposure to college courses or earn professional manufacturing credentials before they graduate.
Much of our state’s untapped potential lies in our cities, and the Downtown Development Districts program we started will provide incentives that encourage development in urban areas.
Any successful society needs great schools and great schools require great teachers. That’s why we established a plan to attract new teachers with higher starting salaries and to keep great teachers in the classroom by giving them the chance to earn more through leadership roles.
And we are reforming our criminal justice system, recognizing that the majority of ex-offenders will reenter our communities. The most reliable indicator of whether they will successfully reintegrate and contribute is whether they can find employment, so we’ve taken steps like ensuring they have a fair chance to get a job interview.
We have done all of this while balancing the budget and staying true the principles that have consistently earned us a triple-A bond rating. By spending taxpayers’ money wisely and keeping our focus on economic opportunity for all of our people, we’ll keep Delaware moving forward.