Last Thursday, Rep. Debbie Hudson (R-Fairthorne) introduced legislation that would require a 3/5ths majority vote to approve a state budget if it expands faster than the rate of inflation. Colin Bonini, the bill’s Senate sponsor, commented that “we have doubled our budget in the last 12 years.” The News Journal confirms that Delaware’s state budget has grown at a rate exceeding inflation rates for the last decade, with the notable exceptions of 2008 and 2009.
Hudson and Bonini are correct- the Delaware budget has expanded dramatically. What they fail to mention is that it was on their watch.
In fact, the Delaware budget expanded in 24 of the last 25 years- the years that Republicans controlled the State House. Under Democratic control in 2009, the Delaware budget not only ceased to grow- it actually decreased for the first time in a quarter-century. The Fiscal Year 2010 budget was the smallest budget since 2006.
Bonini and Hudson both voted against it.
Before proposing constitutional changes, perhaps Bonini and Hudson should take a hard look in the mirror. They may talk a big game about fiscal responsibility, but history shows they have not been the ones to achieve it.
