Lawmakers must work together to solve Delaware's budget issues, improve the state's economy and provide children with a better education, Gov. John Carney told the General Assembly Thursday.
"We won't always agree on the solutions, but we can all agree on the goals," Carney said in his first official State of the State address. "Working hard and working together, we can and we will get this done."
His speech to the Legislature came a week before he is due to unveil his budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The General Assembly typically uses the governor's proposal as a blueprint for crafting the state's final spending plan.
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Following a year in which the Legislature raised taxes and enacted spending cuts to close a $386 million budget while, Carney said his fiscal plan would continue efforts to address structural budget reforms.
"We're standing here today facing a much more positive financial picture than this time last year," he said. "But we did not go far enough, unfortunately, and, as a result our long-term budget problems continue to linger."
While calling on legislators to resists using one-time revenue to fund ongoing spending, Carney also outlined several new initiatives, each of which is expected to carry a price tag.
They included investments in state workers, such as pay raises, a 12-week paid parental leave benefit, a student loan-forgiveness program for educators and state building upgrades.
Carney also called for hiring 200 more teachers statewide, expanding the number of math coaches in middle schools, funding more Opportunity Grant that support programs for disadvantaged students and English language learners and the STARS program that supports early-childhood education.
That does not include the $3.5 million that Carney already has committed to help struggling schools in the Christina School District, the 75 additional correctional officers he vowed to add last year or the rising cost of healthcare for state workers.
No proposed spending cuts were offered during the 30-minute speech.
"It was a great speech but I heard a lot of fiscal contradictions," said Senate Minority Whip Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley. "He said we can't spend money we don't have, we can't rely on one-time money in the budget, we spend twice as much as we take in and, by my count 10 to 12 new spending initiatives."
House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf, D-Rehoboth Beach, said he is less concerned about the governor's new spending proposals.
"The State of the State is just an outline," he said. "A lot of the answers will be filled in next Thursday when he rolls out his budget."
This story will be updated.
Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.