Some state lawmakers responded to Governor John Carney's State of the State address by suggesting more ambitious goals.
Education spending featured front-and-center in Carney’s address, offering the Governor a chance to reiterate his plan — announced earlier this week — to offer 9 percent raises to Delaware public school teachers in the coming year.
House Education Committee Chair Rep. Kim Williams supports that plan, and Carney’s announcement Thursday he plans to double funding for Delaware’s Early Childhood Assistance Program. Williams notes Carney’s goal to increase purchase of care could help provide a much-needed pay raise for early childhood educators.
“It’s well-documented that our early learning centers don’t have enough money to pay salaries," she said. "We want people making a livable wage.”
And GOP State Sen. Brian Pettyjohn urges action to correct pay disparities between early childhood care providers in Sussex County and their counterparts in New Castle County.
“New Castle County providers get paid more through the state’s reimbursement rate than providers in Sussex County," he said. "That’s not fair. We need to make sure there is pay parity.”
Pettyjohn and fellow Republicans also question whether additional investments in public schools are translating to better testing outcomes, arguing that offering school districts greater control over how to spend state education dollars could be more valuable.
Carney's climate change mitigation goals — continuing tree-planting efforts, restoring investments in the Clean Water Trust and directing federal dollars to build new electric vehicle charging infrastructure — likewise drew suggestions of more ambitious targets.
State Senator Stephanie Hansen supports plans to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure, but the Senate’s Energy, Environment and Transportation Committee chair says the state needs to act with greater urgency to upgrade its electrical grid and transition to renewable energy.
“This transition is much bigger than electric vehicles," she said. "It’s much bigger than solar. It’s much bigger than wind. It is a much bigger issue than that - it’s all of that put together, and we are not prepared.”
Hansen notes expanding utilities-scale solar power generation – the most viable source of renewable energy in Delaware – will require addressing local-level land use barriers.
She also suggests state leadership act with urgency to create a Delaware Energy Administration to coordinate the state’s dozen utilities providers and manage workforce concerns and financial assistance for new renewable energy and grid projects.
In a joint response after the address, Republican lawmakers offered several critiques of Carney's speech, with Senate Minority Leader Gerald Hocker saying it offered "little substance."
GOP leadership argued that the state should make use of the budget surplus — a key talking point for Carney — by offering additional tax relief for Delawareans.
“First and foremost, I did not hear the Governor mention anything about personal income tax cut," said House Minority Whip Lyndon Yearick. "We’re looking to make the biggest investment back into you – Delawareans. Who knows better how to spend the money you’ve given back to Delaware, but you, the person we’ve collected it from — that’s the best economic driver."
Hocker also chided Carney for not mentioning the rising death toll from Delaware's overdose crisis — a notable omission, given the announcement by state public health officials a day earlier that Delaware likely saw a record number of overdose deaths in 2022.
GOP lawmakers also seized on Carney's call for lawmakers to work together with him.
"I'm looking forward to having a year in which we really are working together, because we need to hold the Governor to that statement." said House Minority Leader Mike Ramone. "It's easy to say 'working together' when you're there and everyone is looking, but when you really have to work together, it's intriguing."
