Center for Economic & Fiscal Policy

 

• Over the past 20 years, Delaware’s per capita income has gone from the highest in the nation to below the national average.

 

• According to the Delaware Department of Labor, employment is projected to grow at only 0.5% over the next decade, thereby trailing most of the nation.

 

• Since 2009, Delaware has had five recessions compared to one in the rest of the country.

 

• Including the variable Gross Receipts Tax, small business owners in Delaware often pay the highest personal income tax rates in America. 

 

In partnership with other like-minded Delaware organizations, the primary goals of this Center are to develop bi-partisan strategies and alternative policy options that will bring transparency, regulatory reform, and improved effectiveness to the tens of billions of dollars spent by the State every year.

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Legislators just plain wrong on wage, right-to-work law | 11/28/2018

This article first appeared at delawareonline.com on March 27, 2015, and in the News Journal on March 28, 2015. Normally, and from a professional point of view, I do not spend my time replying to politicians’ op-eds. They usually are full of ideological and partisan talking points without fac...

The Latest Tax Climate Report | 11/28/2018

The Tax Foundation has recently released its 2015 State Business Tax Climate Index. As usual the "tax you until you leave" states of New Jersey, New York and California fall at the bottom of the rankings. Besides the "energy belt" states, it is no surprise that Florida, New H...

The positive benefits of a Right to Work law for Delaware | 11/28/2018

    A recent report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute confirms once again the economic boost that right to work laws provide states.     Richard Vedder and Jonathan Robe, in "An Interstate Analysis of Right to Work Laws," confirm that over time the ...

Governor Markell Made the Right Decision | 11/28/2018

Governor Markell recently proposed to the State Employee Benefits Committee increases in the monthly health insurance premium and health care deductibles for active and retired State employees and their dependents. The Governor has made a difficult, and long overdue, decision, and deserves commendat...

Supplemental Pay in Delaware State Government: Benign Neglect? | 11/28/2018

As the failed gubernatorial recall in Wisconsin and other recent referendums evidence, citizens are waking up to the fact that politicians have made pension commitments for public employees that can’t be sustained. Delawareans should be equally concerned about the overuse of supplemental pay b...

Lessons learned from Fisker Motors | 11/28/2018

Since the state of Delaware awarded Fisker Motors an interest free loan of $12.5 million and a $9 million grant, what has transpired and what lessons can be learned from this? Following the loan and grant from the state and a $529 million federal government loan guarantee, things have been ugly. ...

Delaware on the Dole | 11/28/2018

The University of Delaware, in conjunction with the National Renewable Energy Lab, is seeking a grant from a $180 million fund established by the U. S. Department of Energy for a wind turbine research project to be built off the coast of Delaware. The effort has the full support of Delaware’s ...

Does Governor Markell deserve a D? | 11/28/2018

11/9/2012 In their recent “Fiscal Report Card on America’s Governors,” the CATO Institute gave Delaware’s Governor Markell a “D”. The basis for the grade was that over the past four years the Governor has increased taxes (i.e., personal income, gross receipts...

Happy Holidays, New Castle County Residents! Your Gift: Higher Taxes, Higher Crime | 11/28/2018

   In a series of analyses CRI has argued the New Castle County (NCC) government is facing a serious fiscal crisis. This crisis was precipitated by the passage in 1998 of the anti-growth and anti-economic development Uniform Development Code (UDC). The recent recession has made things wors...

Sussex County to New Castle County: Well Take Your Taxpayers | 11/28/2018

     CRI has contended that between the 1998 Uniform Development Code land use regulation and the general practices toward subdivision review, that New Castle County (NCC) government is anti-development. Lack of economic growth has led to very large increases in NCC taxes and fee...