Chair Message

BY NICK LAMBROW

The sound you’ve heard coming from Dover the past few months has been that of the Joint Finance and Bond Bill committees crunching the numbers on Governor Carney’s plan to spend almost $6.2 billion during the fiscal year that starts July 1.

Before long we’ll get the General Assembly’s take on the Governor’s spending plan and learn whether they agree with his proposal to spend a record $4.99 billion on the State’s operating expenses and another $1.18 billion on capital projects. (When this message was written, Governor Carney had just unveiled his budget plan and we were all just beginning to digest it.)

To be sure, $6.2 billion is a massive sum of money—one aided by a more than $800 million anticipated revenue surplus in FY22 and complemented by the nearly $2 billion in federal funds Delaware will receive from President Biden’s infrastructure law. Regardless of where the dust settles on the overall amount the State allocates for spending this coming year, it’s important we understand the value of every dollar on the table right now. It’s critical to the future success of our state that the business community works together and speaks with a powerful voice when our elected leaders are deciding how best to put this robust budget to work for Delawareans.

We’re standing at a critical point in Delaware’s economic future—the intersection of the Great Resignation and the Hopeful Recovery. Delaware is brimming with businesses that want to grow—but many of these businesses have more job openings than they do candidates to fill them. Meanwhile, our workforce is reassessing what it wants from an employer— and willing to sit out until they find what they’re looking for.

We’re standing at a critical point in Delaware’s economic future—the intersection of the Great Resignation and the Hopeful Recovery.

This is where we come in. This is where Delaware’s business community must be part of the solution by identifying our greatest workforce needs and organizing around replicable ways of fulfilling them. We have an opportunity to lead the conversations that could help remove obstacles limiting the state’s prosperity if our many voices are delivering a shared message. Let’s start with a commitment to invest in people.

Let’s put the state’s money into the initiatives and initiatives that give Delawareans a better chance to make a better life for themselves and their families. And while it makes sense to put some of those funds into the programs that already exist, it’s our job— at this critical moment—to identify and support alternatives that others may not be thinking of or know exist.

Workforce development is one of the State Chamber’s top policy priorities this year for this reason. We need to direct greater resources—notably funding—toward the policies and programs that boost workforce training and employee upskilling, promote job opportunities in health care, technology, the trades and other industries, and enable employers to offer greater benefits and better pay. Artificial wage hikes and benefits aren’t always the solution to attracting and retaining a talented workforce.

The state’s coffers are full. It’s time to spend wisely for Delaware’s future. We have an opportunity to create a legacy moment for our state. It’s time to invest in Delaware’s workforce.