Legislative Update

September 22, 2011

Chamber president meets with congressional delegation and trade groups in quarterly Washington visits

Chamber President Mark Kleinschmidt, accompanied by VP for Business and Economic Development Bob Chadwick and the Chamber’s lobbyist, Joe Fitzgerald met on Capitol Hill yesterday (September 21) with Senators Coons and Carper and Congressman Carney as well as key policy staff from the delegation offices to provide an update on the progress of the Chamber’s business incubator, the Emerging Enterprise Center, the Chamber’s broader economic development efforts and to discuss key policy issues affecting our membership.  While in Washington, Mr. Kleinschmidt also met with a policy staff from America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) to discuss issues around implementation of the Affordable Care Act and with the senior leadership of American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) to discuss the economy and its affect on Chambers around the country.

Topics of discussion with the delegation included President Obama’s jobs proposal and Speaker Boehner’s alternative, deficit and debt reduction, tax policy, the Delaware economy, Economic Development Administration reauthorization and pending free trade agreements and dredging the Delaware River to ensure the economic competitiveness of the Port of Wilmington.

We are very appreciative of the time afforded by Senators Carper and Coons and Congressman Carney, as well as their staff. 

State revenue dips in a sign of economic troubles ahead

The latest information from the Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council (DEFAC) indicates a decline of $109.8 million in projected state revenue.  At the start of the fiscal year, July 1, the state had a $797.8 million surplus carried over from FY 2011.   The most recent projections show cash on hand at $32.1 million at the start of FY 2013 (July 1, 2012).  The decline in revenue was seen among several key categories: bank franchise tax, corporate income tax, utilities, real estate transfers, casino revenue and the cigarette tax have all weakened.