Interview transcript:
Tom Byrne:
You talk about some of the impacts of things that are being done in Washington or having here in the state of Delaware. Your administration, the Attorney General Kathy Jennings, has spent a fair amount of time fighting with the Trump administration over a variety of issues.
Gov. Matt Meyer:
I think Trump started the fight, is my view. It's not Kathy Jennings picking a fight with them, it's Trump picking a fight with us.
Tom Byrne:
I understand. And just in the past few weeks, you've seen things like access to transgender care, ICE seeking state labor department records from Delaware.
How much does this, is fighting these battles taking away from dealing with the issues, many of which we've talked about already, locally? Is this a walk and chew gum at the same time type of thing? Or is it an unnecessary distraction that takes away from getting the things that you want done, done?
Gov. Meyer:
Look, if I were running the country, I'd run it pretty differently right now. I think a lot of the things President Trump is doing is straight up an attack on the working class. I think it's an attack on people's private sexuality. Some of the things they're saying now about Obergefell, which is the court case that created a right to gay marriage. Some of the things they're saying now that the Secretary of Defense is saying about women serving in the military. It's embarrassing.
It isn't who we are as a country. And if you're saying should we be standing up to that 110% of the time? I think if I don't stand up to that, I don't think I can look my mother in the eye, and I don't know how I continue serving. And I think without talking out of turn or putting words in the Attorney General's mouth, I think she feels the same way.
At the same time, I'm eager to work with the President. The President, part of the big bill is baby bonds. Baby bonds has been talked about for years.
Why don't we, for lowest income Delawareans, put aside some money when they're born, just sock it away in an account, have it earn interest or some kind of return, so that when the baby turns 16, 18, they'll have money for college, for a house, for job training. Why don't we do that? It's been talked about for years. The big bill is doing that. We're looking at how do we in Delaware take extra advantage of this and say, hey, this is not just one place, one of 50 states to have a best place in America to have a baby. And that's something we'll do in collaboration with the Trump administration.
I recently met with RFK Jr., the Secretary of Health and Social Services, and Dr. Oz, who runs the Center for Medicare and Medicaid. A lot of what they say, I don't agree with. But they're talking about getting junk food off of kids' plates. And I'm supportive of that. And I'm saying, how can we work together to do that?
So, I think you have to be mature enough in these jobs to say, listen, there's a lot we don't agree on, but there are a few things we agree on. And for the good of Delaware, I'm here to serve Delawareans. I don't really care. You may be really supportive of President Trump and what he's doing, but I hope we'll show you we're here to serve you, too.
Sarah Petrowich:
Talking federal funding cuts, a lot of it has kind of been a waiting game, it sounds like, as far as how can we determine how these cuts will actually directly impact Delaware and what can be done. I know that was talked a lot about during the budget process.
Two of the main concerns, which we've touched on, have been cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. At least one of the changes to SNAP starting in October 2026 will be that all states will have to start covering 75% of the administrative costs. For Delaware, that means the state will have to come up with an additional $16.5 million.
And this is just one of the areas where additional funding will be needed, right? So now that there seems to be a clearer picture of what the effects of DOGE and the Big Beautiful Bill are, what have discussions been like around how Delaware will be impacted and how it can cover those cuts?
Gov.Meyer:
Well, we're doing everything we can to leave no one behind. I mean, with respect to food assistance, with respect to Medicaid, as you mentioned, and health care. Something that's not being talked about a lot is that many Delawareans, I think, I know 10,000, maybe tens of thousands, get their health care because of subsidies on the Affordable Care Act market that are going away as of the end of next year.
In addition to some of the stuff they're talking about doing at the Education Department and funds that are likely to be cut. Right now we're looking at overall impact of tens of millions of dollars. We have a $7 billion budget. So, when tens of millions of dollars goes away, it's not good news.
But it's a way, you know, you're talking about 1%, 2%, 3%. We think we can find the resources to continue maybe not all, but many of these programs.
We're also, quite frankly, using this as an opportunity. A lot of people on the right who are supportive of President Trump level really hard criticism against a lot of these programs, saying that they're totally inefficient and they should be, you know, done away with, which I don't agree with. But I do believe there are inefficiencies. And I do believe in some cases, like in our SNAP program here in Delaware, there are inefficiencies that we need to work on.
And we need to make sure we're using the latest, greatest technologies. And maybe because federal rules in the past haven't been structured around it, we haven't really put those issues under a magnifying glass and fixed them. So, we're also trying to fix some of these inefficiencies that we think is going to generate millions of dollars of savings for Delaware.
So, we're committed to trying to do everything we can to backfill these programs. There are a lot of nonprofits that are hurting. Latin American Community Center now is out some early childhood money. For example, the Food Bank has been very vocal about some of the money that they're losing, some of the federal money. We're doing everything we can to create stopgaps while at the same time saying, wait a second, let's use this crisis and use these shortfalls as an opportunity to potentially create efficiencies to serve people in a smarter way.
Sarah Petrowich:
So, it sounds like you're confident that we can make up those cuts somewhere. But we also have a looming state deficit, right? Even after dipping into reserves, there's a projected deficit by fiscal year 2028.
You talked about adding personal income tax brackets. That didn't happen this year, but the Speaker of the House said that she is supportive of that, along with other legislators, in making some type of change. What are the talks as of now to bring more revenue into the state? Are we still trying to keep that plan? Are there any other proposals you have to help combat this?
Gov. Meyer:
Well, first of all, corporate franchise revenue. It's covered when our corporate franchise is under attack and a Twitter account with a lot of followers comes at us. That's in the news. But what's not in the news is when our revenues keep going up for corporate franchise. There are more entities today, as I talk to you, there are more entities today incorporated in Delaware than ever before in Delaware's history. So, there’s opportunity there. It's been widely said that we're too reliant on corporate franchise revenue, which I agree with. We have to develop other lines of revenue from the state.
I've also said, as you alluded to, the wealthy need to pay their fair share in taxes. I still hold myself to that. Now, saying that and putting together a bill with numbers that you're able to pass with super majorities through the House and the Senate is more of a challenge. We're going to keep on working on it. As you said, both the Speaker of the House and the leader of the Senate, the president pro tem of the Senate, as well as the lieutenant governor, have pledged support in principle to it. But again, when you get down to the numbers, it's not quite as easy.
Tom Byrne:
We've talked about a lot of things making headlines. Is there something you feel like your administration has accomplished since you took office that hasn't made headlines but should be?
Gov. Meyer:
[It] made a few headlines, but I'm proud that there are nearly 18,000 Delawareans who, as of a couple of weeks ago, had medical debt, crushing medical debt that, according to their income or according to the amount of money they had in the bank, was simply devastating to them. I think we all know people who chose to get a cancer treatment for grandma or for themselves or for a spouse or for a child, and it sort of impoverished the family. Family members couldn't go to school or had trouble making mortgage payments. And for nearly 18,000 Delawareans, we've eradicated that debt. We've erased that debt, minimal with $500,000 of public expenditure.
I think that's the kind of society that we should live in in the 21st century, where we say, hey, if you're hard on your luck and you just got a cancer diagnosis, you have to go to dialysis every month and you can't afford it. This is America. You go get what you need for your health, and we as a community will throw in a few pennies each or a few dollars each to make sure everybody's okay.
Tom Byrne:
I want to finish on a lighter note. We talked about significant heavy issues. Your job as governor, though, does have some aspects that are a little bit more fun. What's the most interesting thing you've gotten to do in your official capacity as governor so far? A day you said, you know, I'm really glad I'm governor today.
Gov. Meyer:
I got to admit, Tom, Dover Days was not the reason I ran for governor. I'd seen past governors get dressed up. I saw Mayor Christensen, Robin, every year get dressed up like he was out of the 1700s. My wife and kids said, no way. But we went in full speed and had a good time. I think the family's looking forward to it next year.
I can't pick just one. NASCAR. Years and years ago, I went to the Pocono 500, a NASCAR race, and I went to Dover Downs this year for the Monster Mile. It was really cool. I maybe made the mistake of watching Talladega Nights the night before, so I'm filled with Ricky Bobby quotes. If you're not first, you're last. My wife kept saying, when you're in the box with the owners, you can't just start yelling, if you're not first, you're last.
But listen, every day I wake up and realize how humbling it is for a Delaware kid. My grandparents fled Europe in fear of being persecuted in the Holocaust. They came here. My great-grandfather didn't speak English when he got here. My grandfather was three. Great-grandfather worked as a chauffeur for wealthy people around a town in northeastern Pennsylvania. And it just makes me proud that kids in America, you know, you can have a shot here. There are kids down in Georgetown who maybe are the kids of Guatemalan parents who maybe don't speak the best English or don't, you know. And I just want kids to know, you got a shot. Keep your head down. Work hard. And even in this little Delaware, anything can happen.
Tom Byrne:
Governor Matt Meyer, we appreciate you taking time to join us on The Green this week. Thank you for your time.
Gov. Meyer:
Thank you.
