What should Delaware do, if anything, to rein in spending?
The State budget has increased $223 million or 6.6 percent since 2009, which equates to 1.65 percent increase per year. The bulk of this spending increase was driven by costs related to school construction projects and increased medical spending through Medicaid as more people fell on hard times. Since 2009, Delaware has cut 1,000 non-teacher positions and reduced the number of state-owned vehicles by 895, while maintaining a AAA credit rating. My opponent has consistently voted against the State budget and these types of cost savings. We have made great progress, but we can do more.
We should create a task force to combat waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicaid, which is nearly 20% of our budget, but make sure that we are caring for our most vulnerable seniors and children.
Technology continues to improve workplace efficiency in the private sector. We can do the same in State government. This will allow us to reduce the number of non-teacher and non-public safety State employees through retirements and attrition without laying people off.
With 19 school districts, we are spending far too much on school administration. At the very least, it is time that we consolidate certain administrative functions and purchasing functions to cut costs.