House lawmakers voted on Thursday to adopt a $5.6 billion state operating budget for fiscal year 2024 — a nearly ten percent increase over the current year.
The increase is driven in large part by healthcare spending, including $160 million to sustain Delaware’s Medicaid program, which faces both inflated costs of care and rising demand.
A $195 million one-time budget supplement also approved by the House includes another $69 million to ensure Medicaid stays afloat as pandemic-era federal assistance ends.
State Rep. Lyndon Yearick was one of eight Republicans who voted against the operating budget, arguing state revenues aren’t growing fast enough to sustain the ten percent spending increase.
“That ten percent is now baked in," he said. "If we look at the rate of inflation – four, five, eight percent – and we look at our economy, I don’t think we’re growing that fast.”
Supporters, including GOP State Rep. Ruth Briggs-King, maintain the additional spending is essential for maintaining critical state programs and addressing shortages of public school teachers and workforce housing.
“People are going to look back and say, ‘that’s almost a ten percent increase,’" she said, "and I’m going to say when we’re facing inflation of eight percent or more, the state has to keep pace with that inflation and it has to keep compete to get the workers we need in Delaware.”
The budget still needs Senate approval before it takes effect; fiscal year 2024 begins July 1st.
