Markell Blueprint Book Final[1]

F O R A B E T T E R D E L A W A R E

BLUEPRINT

State Treasurer Jack A. Markell

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Acknowledgements

I had lots of help in writing this book.

Dozens of Delawareans sent me ideas, edited my words and greatly improved the final product. I’m grateful

to all of them.

There are four in particular who deserve special mention, because the project started with them many

months ago, seated around my kitchen table.

Susan Swan, Ann Marie Johnson Ianni, Nancy Charron and Stephanie McClellan were simply amazing in

terms of their wisdom, tenacity and patience with me. Any mistakes in these pages are, of course, mine

alone. But the four of them rightfully get credit for that which is good. I simply can’t thank them enough.

I’m also grateful to the folks at Brain Storm, a firm focused on developing policy ideas for public servants.

They were very helpful in terms of making sure I was up to speed on initiatives across the country – for

better and for worse.

I would also like to thank Joe Rogalsky, Molly Keresztury, Jed Weeks, Douglas Marshall-Steele, and Sheila

Grant amongst others who made important editorial contributions at different times in the process.

Finally, I thank my family for their love and support, not just during the writing of this book, but during my

entire career serving the people of Delaware. My kids, Molly and Michael, as well as my wife, Carla, remind

me all the time that government and policy are not supposed to be about fancy speeches and ideas, but

rather about actions that make a difference in the lives of real people. I love them and am grateful for their

love in return.

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Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 7

Energy, Climate Change, and Delaware’s Future ..................................................................... 10

A Plan for Enhancing Our Quality of Life in Delaware............................................................ 18

Turning Ideas into Meaningful Employment (TIME) ............................................................... 28

Enhancing Delaware’s Safety and Security............................................................................... 38

In Sickness and in Health: Health Care for All Delawareans .................................................. 47

Delaware’s Education Future: World Class Public Schools ...................................................... 59

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 75

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IntroductionThis is a policy book. It comes from years of studying,talking with experts, creating successful governmentinitiatives—and lots of listening to the concerns ofDelaware citizens. The result is an in-depth analysis of thehealth of our state that identifies short-term and long-termopportunities and challenges and lays out creative ideas tosecure increased prosperity for all Delawareans.

But government “of the people” doesn't exist in some sortof policy vacuum. It reflects the experiences, motives, andaspirations of the people who craft it. So, as I campaign forgovernor of Delaware, I want you to know not only whatI will do as chief executive, but why. My policy ideas aredriven by who I am, and I'm driven by those who informedmy life and work.

I begin, then, with one of the wisest people I've known:my grandmother.

Grandma Mollie lived in a small one-bedroom apartmenton a busy intersection in Brooklyn—a lot busier than mylittle street in Windy Hills, off Kirkwood Highway inNewark. The sensory thrill of Brooklyn lingers in mymemory: the ambulance sirens, the traffic, the rumble ofthe old elevator, the smell of the cookies that were alwayswaiting when we arrived every six weeks or so—myparents, Leni and Bill, my brother, David, my sister, Judy,and me.

There was something else besides cookies I could counton from Grandma: straight talk, unvarnished andunapologetic.

It is one of our last conversations, when she was alreadypast 90 years of age and I was around 30, that I rememberbest. I was an early and senior executive at Nextel, on theground floor of the wireless telecommunicationsrevolution. I was excited by this little upstart company andhow we were changing the way America communicated. Iwanted Grandma to share my excitement.

As I described the new technologies—faxes, cell phones,pagers—she simply sat and listened. When I finished, herwords were clear, her voice strong: “So what? So what youcan send a piece of paper over a phone line? So what thatsomebody can send you a message through the air? When

people are still killing each other, when people are hurtingeach other, when people still starve, when babies havebabies, when the homeless freeze outside, so what?”

That was my grandmother’s way. Grandma never lost sightof the priorities in life, and by her example she conveyedthem to me. She taught me to look critically at the worldaround me. Her guidance, her sense of right and wrong,and her conviction that people and community mustcome first have inspired much of my life and work.

Grandma’s blunt admonition forced me to recall promisesI had made to myself as a younger man.

During my senior year at Newark High School, my fathertaught overseas. My mom and I accompanied him.Growing up in a modest but comfortable middle-classhome, I was unprepared for the wrenching sights I wouldsee as we stepped off the plane in New Delhi, India: men,women, and children so poor they wouldn’t know what a“poverty line” was. I looked in horror as travelers walkedbriskly around and over homeless beggars.

Ironically, India today is fast becoming an icon foreducational achievement and a dynamic work ethic,threatening our economic competitiveness. But for me,India will always be that jolt of reality, the place where Imade that promise to myself: I would do something tomake it possible for more people to achieve theireconomic potential. After getting a degree in economicsand development studies from Brown University, Iwrestled with how to fulfill that promise to myself.

Tempted to join the Peace Corps, I decided instead topursue an MBA, reasoning that those who control thelevers of economic power have the greatest ability toeffect social change. So I went to Chicago and worked toput myself through graduate school at the University ofChicago, where I earned an MBA. From there I set out onthe amazing path that led to a career in business andtechnology.

Years later, when I told my business colleagues I was goingto run for state treasurer, they asked me why. I answeredthat deep in my heart I believe that government can makethings a little easier for the average family, and a littlebrighter for Delaware’s future.

When I began my campaign to become treasurer in 1998,

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“curse”—an urgent, restless impulse to do more, to neverbe satisfied, to bear down on the work at hand. To fulfillour state’s potential and to hold to Grandma’suncompromising vision. Of course, it’s not a curse at all.It’s the passion that motivates me every single day.

As Governor, I will turn my clear vision for Delaware intobold, responsible policies. From my own deep well ofideas, and from the extensive network of innovativepeople nationwide whom I’ve come to know in mycareers, I’ll continue to develop new models for how toachieve prosperity—for our children, and for generationswe will never meet. The ideas in this book are merely asampling of what I know to be possible.

More than 200 years ago, Delaware earned its moniker,“The First State.” We need to make that true once again. Iask that you join me in this great enterprise.

I trailed the incumbent by 27 points. Relentless work anda great team brought me to victory by 16 points, anachievement I owe in large measure to my wife, Carla,whom I have known since childhood. Our wonderfulchildren—Grandma’s namesake, Molly, now 15, andMichael, 12—have joined me on campaigns that led totwo subsequent reelections.

When I began my tenure, I discovered that the treasurer’soffice was antiquated. Ten years later the office employs21st-century technology and efficient financial practices.Moreover, I broadly interpret the mission of Treasurer tocreate programs that promote prosperity in society. I instillin my co-workers the importance of new ideas, diligentindividual and collaborative work, and the drive to dowhatever it takes to make a positive and measurabledifference for Delaware’s families and for our state.

I recount these personal stories to give you a sense of whyI turned the corner from business into government, andwhy I’m pursuing the office of governor at this moment inDelaware’s history.

I’m running now because delay is not an option. This is awonderful state, with a proud past and potentially a verybright future. But that bright future is not assured. I’mconvinced that changes in our own economy, as well asforces around the globe, represent both a significant riskand, if we are smart about it, a huge opportunity.

In some ways, Delaware is thriving. We are one of onlyseven states in the country with the top AAA rating fromall three agencies that rate state bonds. We have a lowunemployment rate. We are recognized around the worldfor the strength of our legal system. There is much to beproud of.

Yet pride should not make us blind to looming problemsthat we have never before had to face as a state. Forexample, Delaware ranks among the worst in thecountry for new business creation, a canary-in-the-coal-mine statistic that should snap us to attention. Moreover,Delaware’s traditional revenue streams and job sourcesare under siege. Where will new jobs come from asindustries flee to less expensive human-resource-richcountries in Asia? How will we pay for governmentservices as revenue bounty from gaming and othersources dwindles?

We can easily see frayed edges in the social fabric as well.Today half of all black and Hispanic students in the statedrop out of high school. More than 100,000 Delawareanshave no health insurance. Many of the risks that familiesused to share with their employers and theirgovernment–health care, retirement benefits andcollege education–are now being shifted onto us to bearalone. No family is immune to these greater pressures,and so many Delawareans are feeling squeezed.

We have immense potential to make life more secure. Inthis book, and in my campaign for governor, I begin byasking questions: Is our state government as smart,forward-thinking, lean, vigorous, and effective as it shouldbe? No. Are we doing enough—and enough of the rightthings—to become a jewel in the global economicmarketplace? No. Are we educating and attracting a 21st-century workforce that’s fully up and running for the stiffcompetition ahead? Not yet. Can we do more, much more,to identify and create the conditions in which to grow anew generation of robust, clean, responsible enterprises inDelaware? Yes. Can we make society fairer and moreprosperous, so that our interlaced futures all will beimproved? Absolutely.

We’ve barely begun to put our imaginations to the newtasks ahead. And what better place to be imaginative thanour small state, which can and should be a laboratory forinnovation?

Somebody once said the average speed of trains today isabout what it was 100 years ago—not because of thetrains, but because of the tracks. We still have 19th- and20th-century tracks, but we can’t afford 19th- and 20th-century thinking. Even Grandma Mollie would agree withthat, so long as we continue to remember what’s reallyimportant in life. It’s time to lay those new tracks and getmoving.

I’ve traveled the state from Delmar to Claymont for almost10 years as an elected official, and our citizens have toldme that we must make bold changes if we are going tomake a measurable difference in the lives of real people. Iam running for governor because I will not shy away frommaking bold changes, and I’ll never stop pushing myselffor better solutions.

This brings me to what Carla and I jokingly refer to as my

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Clean Renewable EnergyDelaware enacted a renewable portfolio standard (RPS),which requires the state’s retail electricity suppliers to userenewable energy to generate at least 20 percent of theelectricity they sell in Delaware by 2019. This is a goodstart for Delaware because states that have investedheavily in renewable energy have been finding that notonly are they meeting their RPS renewable energy goals,they are exceeding them.

As a result, states like California, Texas, New Mexico, andNew York, along with others, have sought to establish highrenewable energy goals. Although Delaware’s renewableenergy sector is in its infancy, we ought to be doingeverything possible to learn from the experience of theseleading states, adopt incentives and regulations that haveworked effectively to bolster the rapid development anddeployment of renewable energy, and aggressively seekout opportunities to expand Delaware’s sources ofrenewable power.

Some people think that renewable technologies are yearsaway from being “practical” or “cost competitive” withtraditional power sources. Wind is an exception to thatrule and I believe we should act now to deploy windpower facilities in Delaware. Wind power is the fastestgrowing source of power in the U.S. and the main reasonis simple – its cost is fixed and attractive.

For example, in November 2005 the 35,000 customers ofExcel Energy in Colorado who had signed up to purchase“green power” fueled by wind farms began paying lessthan Excel’s other customers. Natural gas shortages hadforced Excel to impose a 27% price increase on traditionalpower customers, while the 35,000 wind powercustomers paid an average of $10 less per month.3 Wind isno longer an environmentalist’s pipe dream and withmore U.S. and European wind power companies buildingmanufacturing plants in the U.S., I believe it is time forDelaware to get on board.

We are all aware of the potential for the first off-shore windfarm in the U.S. to be developed here in Delaware,because it has been a dominant story in the news over thelast year. Currently we await the outcome of a lengthyprocess involving four state agencies, Delmarva Power andBluewater Wind. It is no accident that Delaware is a leader

here: according to the U.S. Department of Energy,Delaware has excellent wind resources just off its coast. Afew other states, such as Texas and California, have beensuccessful in carefully crafting regulatory rules andincentives to attract the major wind power developers andenable them to install significant capacity.

Making Delaware More Attractive toRenewable Energy Delaware can pursue other strategies to increase thedevelopment of renewable energy. We want to ensure thatDelaware is and is perceived to be a state that is friendly torenewable energy and renewable energy developers. Forinstance, the state could offer green building tax credits tocompanies that incorporate renewable energy sources, likewind power, as part of the design of new commercialbuildings and include other environmentally friendly or“green” design features.

From the days of the solar demonstration house inNewark to the recently-formed Sustainable Energy Utility,solar power has been an area of attention in Delaware.Studies indicate that solar power could be deployed cost-effectively in Delaware, especially by some largercommercial or industrial customers. For example, a studythat was released by the Delaware Million Solar RoofsCoalition found opportunities to integrate solar thermalapplications cost-effectively in Delaware’s poultry industry.

The preheating of water in poultry processing plants wasfound to be a particularly cost-effective application of solarthermal technologies, with paybacks of less than fiveyears. Demonstration projects like the new solar poweredpoultry house that was installed this year by Allen FamilyFoods in Laurel potentially opens the way to significantfunding from the USDA, and could ultimately help get thepoultry houses off the grid – thereby reducing the risk tothe poultry growers from blackouts/brownouts in thesummer.

We will provide all of the same incentives for thedeployment of solar panels that were discussed abovewith wind power. By establishing a pilot program todeploy more solar panels on the roofs of office buildingsand homes in Delaware, we can help reduce the cost ofsolar power which remains much higher than wind

Energy, Climate Change, andDelaware’s FutureHow Delaware chooses to produce and use energy willhelp determine whether the state flourishes or loses itsstatus as an outstanding place to live and do business inthe 21st century.

Why energy, when Delaware historically has not been aleading energy producer or consumer?

First, the emergence of the renewable energy, alternativefuel and other clean technology industries is one of themost dynamic areas of the economy. Second, energy isone of the most fundamental issues shaping our nationaland economic security in the United States. Third, energyissues directly impact the production of greenhouse gasemissions, the leading contributor to global warming andclimate change.

We do not have much in the way of traditional,homegrown fossil fuel energy supplies in Delaware. Wehave no oil to drill, no vast coal resources, and no naturalgas supplies. All of these come from somewhere else inthe country or the world, and we pay for every bit of it –it’s money that leaves the state. Understanding how all ofthese economic development, national security, economicsecurity, and environmental issues interact and thenacting in a decisive way that benefits Delaware’s citizens,businesses, and government will rank among the mostimportant leadership challenges for our next governor.

Many states, large and small, have been taking aggressiveaction to improve their energy situations – viewing cleanenergy as an economic development issue and investingin the production of renewable energy like biodiesel, windand solar power as part of a job creation and economicgrowth strategy. Not only are these booming industries –wind power is the fastest growing source of energy inTexas, the heart of America’s oil and natural gas industries– they create high-paying manufacturing and labor jobs tobuild the equipment, install it, and maintain it.

As we plan for a cleaner, smarter energy future, Delawareshould invest in four areas to protect consumers andbusinesses from future energy price increases andenvironmental risks.

New Ideas, New EnergyLike the rest of the United States, Delaware is addicted to oiland other fossil fuels. According to the federal EnergyInformation Administration, Delaware ranks 19th in percapita energy consumption – driving vehicles, heatinghomes, and fueling our industries and manufacturing base.1

As of June 2007, Delaware’s cost of electricity was 14thhighest in the country out of the 50 states and the Districtof Columbia.2 Very little of the electricity we use – less thanone-half of one percent of the State’s total – currently isgenerated in Delaware through renewable sources, rankingus with Alaska, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia asthe only states in the country with little to no renewableenergy generation.

Because Delaware is so heavily dependent on fossilfuels, Delaware’s economy and consumers areparticularly susceptible to price increases due toproblems that are well beyond their control, such asMiddle East political crises or instability and natural gasshortages. In short, Delaware does not come close tocontrolling its own energy future. We must change that.

Our heavy reliance on fossil fuels also puts Delaware at acompetitive and environmental disadvantage. Thecombustion of fossil fuels, both to drive our vehicles andto generate electricity in power plants, also is a leadingcontributor of harmful greenhouse gas emissions that arehelping to produce global warming and climate change.And unlike states in the Midwest, we have virtually noalternative transportation fuel supply or infrastructure.

Delaware should be working proactively to reduce ourreliance on oil and other fossil fuels by developing cleaner,renewable sources of Delaware-grown energy. We have avariety of potential renewable resources – wind power,solar power and biofuels made from home-grown cropsare just a few. By taking action now, we can create jobs,reduce our reliance on foreign oil, make our businessesmore competitive and reduce greenhouse gas emissionsall at the same time. We should look at energy and climatechange problems as economic and environmentalopportunities – and I have a plan for doing just that.


portfolios into environmentally screened fundsthrough leading investment managers with proventrack records.

• Invest an estimated $200 million combined toretrofit their real estate holdings to reduce energyconsumption by 20 percent within five years. Theretrofit investment would allow the funds tocapture an estimated $40 million annually inenergy savings, while creating approximately4,300 jobs and reducing annual energy demand by72 megawatts – enough power to supply anestimated 50,000 homes annually.

Delaware should consider similar initiatives. Delaware’sPublic Employees’ Retirement System alone has assets inexcess of $6.5 billion. I will encourage the trustees ofDelaware PERS to develop a “Green Wave” investmentplan for Delaware consistent with their fiduciaryresponsibility to pensioners. I believe such investmentscan be good for the bottom line of our public pension andinvestment funds, as well as ultimately good for ourenergy and economic security.

Similarly, I will challenge the trustees of other largepension and investment funds in Delaware, includingunion and corporate-based funds, to follow suit. All ofthese investments – public and private – can serve tocreate jobs and stimulate clean technology and cleanenergy industries here in Delaware.

ConservationHow can we, as individuals and as a state, have a positiveimpact on the environment, reduce the greenhouse gaseswe generate, and save money at the same time? Theanswer is simple and basic: energy conservation andefficiency—we do not pay for energy we do not use,whether it is in the form of electricity, oil or gas. Using lessenergy makes sense and saves money – conservation is themost effective energy investment with the highest return.

Energy conservation and efficiency will save money andenergy in the short term, and with a little effort, in the longrun it will eliminate load growth. If we take energyefficiency seriously, we will reduce the need for powercompanies to build new electricity generating plants andtransmission lines. With a reduced need, we can be

choosier about the type of plants that are used or built.

In recent years, our state has begun to take steps to bringabout increased energy efficiency. There are programs andinformation available through the Delaware Energy Office,including the Energy An$wers program. Energy An$wersprovides incentives to residential and non-residentialelectric customers. The Energy An$wers for Businessprogram offers funding to help businesses assess andimprove the energy efficiency of their facilities. TheEnergy An$wers for Home Appliances program providesgrants to Delaware residents who retire inefficientappliances and replace them with select high-efficiencyproducts such as refrigerators, freezers, washingmachines, electric water heaters, central A/C and airconditioning window units.

This program is a good start, but we can and must dobetter—much better. According to the American Councilfor an Energy Efficient Economy, Delaware ranks 30th outof the 50 states on key measures of energy efficiency.

Delaware needs to substantially ramp up its energyconservation and efficiency programs. To do this, the stateshould, among other things:

• Offer energy efficiency tax incentives that rewardinvestments in energy efficiency by consumers orbusinesses. For example, homeowners could deductthe interest paid on loans used to purchase energyefficient equipment or products, such as efficientheating or air conditioning systems, windows orinsulation, solar electrical and hot water heating, andgeothermal heating and cooling.

• Adopt the latest energy efficiency building codes.The state currently utilizes the 2000 InternationalEnergy Conservation Code (IECC) for residentialconstruction and ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999 forcommercial construction. Our state must catch upand upgrade the state building codes, ensuring thatDelaware architects and builders incorporate higherlevels of energy efficiency into homes andcommercial buildings.

• Adopt appliance efficiency standards to ensure thatproducts sold in Delaware meet higher levels ofenergy efficiency. The American Council for anEnergy-Efficient Economy calls appliance efficiency

power. This pilot program will seek to build upon thesuccesses of the Delaware Million Solar Roofs Coalition,which is currently attempting to leverage federal funds todeploy 500 solar energy systems in Delaware.4 Carla and Ialready took one step into more energy efficient living byinstalling solar panels on our own home. As governor I willaggressively pursue our fair share of federal funds forprograms like these.

Fighting for Federal Dollars andResearchThe promise of solar power is exciting in the long termand much publicly and privately funded research is goingon right now on how best to reduce the cost of solarpower. My administration will be active in attractingadditional research dollars to Delaware’s colleges anduniversities and making sure that research can becommercialized as soon as possible.

For example, one of the critical issues in making solarpower more economical is increasing the conversionefficiency of solar panels. Right now, solar panels convertapproximately 15% of the sunlight hitting its surface intoelectricity. In October 2006, one solar panel designer, SunPower, announced it had achieved a 22% efficiency level inits laboratories. Interestingly, the U.S. military is at theforefront of research in this area and Delaware is well-positioned to be a national leader in this important area ofresearch.

In summer 2007, the Department of Defense awarded$12.2 million to DuPont to lead the DuPont-University ofDelaware Very High Efficiency Solar Cell (VHESC)program. This would allow soldiers to recharge theirlaptops, night goggles and other electronic gear on thebattlefield, rather than having to fly in and/or carry heavybattery packs. Overall, this program could bring $100million in investment to Delaware.5 My administration willsupport the involvement of our colleges and universitiesin high-profile, cutting-edge research projects like theVHESC program.

Leading by ExampleDelaware state government should lead by example whenit comes to renewable energy. We should examine ourportfolio of state buildings and real estate and use them to

demonstrate how renewable energy can be integratedinto those facilities. For example, every large roof space ona state building or facility ought to be considered as a mini-power plant in waiting. We ought to install photovoltaicsolar panels and technologies on the roofs of statebuildings, prisons and the like and generate electricity tooffset some of those buildings’ energy loads. We shouldexplore the possibility of installing wind turbines on largerstate parcels of land and prisons. By demonstrating thefeasibility of these sorts of renewable systems, the statecan encourage commercial and industrial customers tofollow suit.

Using the Power of Delaware’sPension and Investment Funds toSupport Clean EnergyAs state treasurer, I am certain that climate change,increased energy demand, and other globalenvironmental and political trends pose significant risks toinvestors, corporations and other segments of the globaleconomy. But the businessman in me recognizes thatthese risks also point to a number of readily identifiableinvestment opportunities. Trustees of large public pensionfunds and managers of investment portfolios have afiduciary responsibility to take appropriate steps tomeasure, manage, and reduce risk. But they also have theopportunity to encourage the leveraging of theirinvestment power to create sustained, long-term positivevalue, while contributing to the development of new jobsin environmentally responsible, clean technology-relatedindustries within their borders.

Recognizing these risks and investment opportunities,some state pension and investment funds are beginningto invest in alternative energy, renewable energy, and“clean technologies.” For example, two of the largestpublic pension funds in the nation, the California PublicEmployees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and theCalifornia State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS)have committed to:

• Invest $450 million ($200 million by CalPERS, $250million by CalSTRS) in clean energy technologies,such as renewable energy, fuel cells, and wasterecycling.

• Invest more than $500 million of their stock


homes that have received an "Energy Star" rating. Even aloan rate discount of one-half of one percent would bemeaningful and will lead to an overall reduction in energyuse.

And, I will work with the state's Public Service Commissionto follow the lead of California and other state utilityregulators and adopt energy efficiency-first polices. Thatis, before electric utilities spend a dollar to buy power inthe market or build a new power plant, they first would berequired to invest in ways to help consumers use energymore efficiently. This will be better for everyone's bottomline and better for our environment.

Helping those who need it mostFor low-income residents and families, the rising cost ofelectricity may be too overwhelming for an efficientfreezer to fix. Exploring avenues to increase energyefficiency is only part of the answer. Rising energy pricesare forcing some households, particularly low-incomefamilies, to cut back on essentials like food and healthcareto absorb rising energy costs. For example, a Nov. 3, 2007News Journal article indicated that fuel oil used to heathomes has increased in price by 56 cents per gallon in thelast year and 28% in just the last two months. That is whythe state must couple plans for reducing energy usagewith financial assistance programs targeted at helping low-income residents confront present energy concerns.

While initial programs are already in place, fundinglimitations remain an obstacle. An estimated 15,400Delaware households received assistance through federalLow Income Home Energy Assistance Program funding inFY 2006. Although families with incomes of up to 200percent of the poverty rate are eligible for LIHEAPassistance – roughly $40,000 for a family of four – only afraction of those who are eligible receive this help due tofunding limitations. The state tries to supplement thosefederal funds by collecting about $800,000 annually frompublic goods charges on electric bills to fund low-incomefuel assistance and weatherization programs.

The state can provide additional help by increasingfunding of low-income energy assistance programs. Toensure such funds go further, the state also shoulddevelop programs to increase the energy efficiency of low-

income homes and housing, as I mentioned earlier. Thestate should make home energy audits and low-costretrofits available to all families receiving low-incomeenergy assistance. These audits and retrofits also shouldbe available to landlords who provide low-incomehousing. Adopting the more energy efficient buildingcodes will ensure that all Delaware residents in newlyconstructed housing reap the benefits of energy efficiency.These small investments will allow federal and stateenergy assistance dollars to go further and help morecitizens, while simultaneously creating jobs in theconstruction and trade markets.

To tackle our energy concerns, we must target every sideof the problem. From energy efficiency and providingassistance for needy families currently choosing betweenenergy and other commodities, to educating consumerson ways to use less energy around times of peak electricity,both the consumption of energy and the impact ourenergy use has on the earth will be significantly reduced inDelaware. As governor, I will take the necessary steps toensure that every Delawarean can afford current energyprices in addition to confidently looking toward a brighterand more energy-efficient future.

Embracing the Solutions to GlobalWarming and Climate ChangeHeightened media coverage and books and movies likeformer Vice President Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truthhave helped educate people that global warming andclimate change are real and threaten our economy andour quality of life. Moreover, drastic changes in theworld’s ecosystem are not only possible, but are verydifficult to predict. Species die-off, desertification, risingsea level, and forced human migration as a result ofabandonment of coastal cities are all among the alarmingpossibilities.

It is clear that global warming caused by the rapid buildupof greenhouse gases is changing climates. Not only hasglobal warming increased the temperature of the earthand oceans, it is contributing to increasingly severeweather. We watched in horror as Hurricane Katrinanearly wiped New Orleans and parts of Mississippi off themap in 2005, but that was just one of a record 27

standards “one of America’s most effective energysaving policies.” The Appliance Standards AwarenessProject has estimated that Delaware couldsignificantly cut its energy use by the year 2020 justby following in the footsteps of our neighbors inMaryland and New Jersey, and adopting a range ofcurrent appliance efficiency standards.

• Adopt industrial efficiency standards for industrial andcommercial equipment. The industrial sector is thelargest user of electricity, and even modest efficiencygains in this area will have a significant impact.

• Ensure that construction policies and requests forproposals for all public buildings incorporate energyefficiency and sustainable design. For example,school construction may be slightly more expensiveup front but will save districts considerable money,energy, and water in the long run. The stategovernment itself must lead the effort in buildingenergy efficiency, for both our new construction, andretrofitting our existing buildings. The U.S. GreenBuilding Council has established their LEEDstandards (Leadership in Energy and EnvironmentalDesign) as a benchmark for the design, constructionand operation of green buildings, and all buildingsand design professionals should be LEED certified.Following these standards will help us improve thequality of our buildings and reduce their impact onthe environment.

• Partner with construction trades and sponsortraining in construction, operations, andmaintenance of solar, wind, geothermal, and otherenergy efficient systems.

• Expand low-income home weatherization funding,which helps improve the energy efficiency of homesand makes energy assistance dollars go further.Many people believe that focusing on weatherizationassistance is the best bang for the buck, particularlyin helping people with low incomes, because it willreduce expenses over the long term and alsogenerate economic activity for local business peoplewho actually do the work.

• Adopt commercial and industrial weatherizationstandards. Large facilities have large energy bills and

are costly to heat and cool because of their size.Addition of passive solar heat can save significantheating expense and quickly pay for itself.

• Develop programs to help commercial andindustrial customers install co-generationCombined Heat and Power (CHP) systems. Onaverage, two-thirds of the fuel energy burned togenerate electricity is wasted—dumped into riversor vented into the outside air by “cooling towers.”More is wasted in long distance powertransmission. Much of this wasted heat can berecovered and used to heat and cool buildings. Thestate ought to develop programs to encouragemore industrial, commercial, and governmentalfacilities to incorporate co-gen/CHP designs fornew or retrofitted facilities that utilize the energythey are producing. The state, however, needs tobe careful not to allow cogeneration systems toburn high emission solid fuels.

• Make full use of the new Sustainable Energy Utility.The Sustainable Energy Utility will encompass notonly energy conservation and efficiency programs,but also the development of renewable energy likesolar power. This approach is working in Vermont,which has created Efficiency Vermont, a first-of-its-kind energy efficiency utility that provides technicalassistance and financial incentives to helpVermonters identify and pay for cost-effectiveapproaches to energy-efficient building design,construction, renovation, equipment, lighting, andappliances.

The governor's office must also play an importantleadership role in increasing energy efficiency statewide.First, the governor leads by example, implementingenergy conservation and efficiency goals and programsthroughout state government operations. Second, thegovernor must work creatively with the private sector todevelop partnerships that lead to more efficient uses ofenergy.

For example, as governor, I will work with banks and otherlending institutions throughout Delaware to develop“Green Car” and "Green Mortgage" lending programs.These programs would offer discounted lending rates forthe purchase of hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles, and


blenders, producers, or importers of these fuels theflexibility to best produce fuels that meet this goal here.This market-based flexibility is one of the main reasonsthat California’s new fuel standard has been supported byan unusual partnership of oil companies, utilities,alternative fuel producers, and environmental groups.

We should explore ways to cap all greenhouse emissions,not just those from power plants and vehicles. I favormarket-based approaches that will enable companies, andeven consumers, to trade emissions credits so that thosewith low emissions can profit from their efficiency whilethose with higher emissions have to pay for theirinefficiency and contribution to environmental problems.Companies throughout the world are joining efforts tomeasure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and largegovernmental bodies, from whole countries to theEuropean Union, are adopting greenhouse gas emissionscaps. Delaware should do the same. We can start byjoining existing climate exchange programs, such as theChicago Climate Exchange, as New Mexico recently did.But we also should reach out to other states, perhaps byexpanding the reach of the Regional Greenhouse GasInitiative to cap other greenhouse gases beyond carbondioxide and other sources of greenhouse gas emissions.

One other important thing that I would do as governor iseducate Delawareans about what they can do to reducetheir own greenhouse gas emissions. While there hasbeen lots of discussion in the media of the scary potentialof global warming, there has not been an equal amount ofdiscussion of what all of us can do to reduce emissions.Some strategies are simple and inexpensive, but effective– recycling more, replacing incandescent light bulbs withcompact fluorescent light bulbs, and planting trees.

Some strategies involve upfront costs but can provecost-effective over time. The vehicle you drive may wellbe the most important climate change choice you make.And different options are available to help you reduceyour carbon emissions. For example, if you need to buya new vehicle, purchasing and driving a vehicle that getsjust two miles per gallon better fuel efficiency wouldreduce carbon emissions by 1,540 pounds each year. Orbetter yet, you could purchase a hybrid electric vehicle,which will save hundreds of dollars on gas and cutemissions substantially and may qualify you for tax

credits. By choosing an Energy Star-certified homeappliance such as a refrigerator, clothes washer,dishwasher, or computer rather than one that is lessefficient, consumers can reduce their energyconsumption and carbon emissions by 10 percent ormore.

Delawareans want to do the right thing. One of the thingsthat we treasure most about our state is its environment –from our beautiful and accessible seacoast to our openspaces. By arming Delawareans with basic informationabout how they can contribute to solutions to globalwarming and climate change, as well as energy efficiency,we can help protect these resources and leave somethingbetter behind for future generations.

hurricanes that year. There has been a significant increasein violent storms like hurricanes, cyclones and typhoonsaround the world in recent decades, fueled in part by theimpact of global warming on our planet.

The impact of these climate changes on Delaware may besevere. Projections by the Union of Concerned Scientists,for example, show that we likely will experience averagetemperature increases of two to three degrees Fahrenheitthrough the first third of this century due to emissionsthat already are in the atmosphere. By the middle part ofthe century, average temperatures may rise by three to fivedegrees if we act to curb emissions or by four to sevendegrees if we continue on the same path.

If we fail to act, by the latter part of the century, Delawarewill be baking, with average temperatures that are sevento 12 degrees higher than today. Our summer will feel likesouthern Georgia. But worse, the number of days ofdangerous heat will skyrocket. Cities like Philadelphia andWilmington will likely experience an average of 19 days oftemperatures exceeding 90 degrees in a summer. If we failto curb greenhouse gas emissions, the number of dayswith temperatures above 90 degrees is projected toquadruple to 82 by the end of the century. The number ofdangerously hot days – those above 100 degrees – isprojected to rise from about two a year to 28 days – almostan entire month’s worth of days topping 100 degrees.

This poses a basic threat to the health and safety of ourcitizens. In 2003, a record heat wave killed nearly 35,000people in Europe. The kinds of temperatures that arebeing projected for our region go far beyond anything wehave experienced before.

But global warming and climate change have the potentialof affecting Delaware in other important areas. We are, ofcourse, a coastal state. If the world continues to warm atits current unprecedented pace, and the ice in the Arcticand Antarctic continue to melt, rising sea levels pose athreat to our coastline. According to new data, even underconservative projections of potential sea-levels increasesof 7 to 23 inches, “many areas of the densely populatedNortheast coast face substantial increases in the extentand frequency of coastal flooding and are at increased riskof severe storm-related damage.”6 Even underconservative scenarios, sea-level rise could permanently

flood low-lying coastal areas. We simply cannot afford anybad or worst case scenarios.

Delaware has already started to take a pro-active role inaddressing climate change. While the federal governmenthas failed to move forward, in December 2005 Delawarejoined a group of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic statesthat have stepped up to the plate to take action. Delawareis a full participant in the Regional Greenhouse GasInitiative (RGGI), a consortium of nine Northeastern andMid-Atlantic states that has agreed to cap emissions byelectric power generators and establish a market-basedemissions trading system.

RGGI sets a cap on emissions of carbon dioxide frompower plants, and allows sources to trade emissionsallowances. The program will begin by capping emissionsat current levels in 2009, and then reducing emissions 10%by 2019. This type of “cap and trade” approach wassuccessfully used in the 1990s to dramatically reduceemissions of sulfur dioxide – one of the main causes ofacid rain in the U.S., so applied appropriately towardpower plants, the “cap and trade” approach should workfor carbon emissions as well. The “cap and trade”approach puts market mechanisms and incentives inplace to reduce emissions in a cost-effective manner.

This is an excellent start. But as governor, I would like tosee Delaware go further and partner with other states totake action to curb other sources of greenhouse gasemissions.

For example, California Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger recently issued an executive order thatadopts a Low Carbon Fuel Standard for that state. Onceimplemented, that new fuel standard will apply to allrefiners, blenders, producers, or importers oftransportation fuels in California. There is no reason thatDelaware cannot learn from this experience as it movesforward and works with other states in our region torequire the same. This will impact one of the largestsources of greenhouse gas emissions – emissions fromvehicles – and help improve air quality in our state.

Delaware should join with other states in our region toestablish a goal of reducing the carbon intensity oftransportation fuels by 10 percent by 2020 and adoptregulations that mirror California’s, and give refiners,


irreversibly is being lost each and every day.

Demographics in part are driving the choices we need tomake. A report recently published by my office, “DelawareFacing Forward: A Look at Delaware’s DemographicFuture,” highlights the changes our population will face by2030, and the changes our state will need to make toprepare for these changes. For example, Delaware’spopulation will grow by about one-third between 2000and 2030. Consider the implications of adding more than220,000 people to Delaware. That is more than 220,000people who will need a place to live. That is more than220,000 people who will be on our roadways, need cleanwater and electricity, and places to relax.

To preserve our quality of life and accommodate theeconomic and population growth that is occurring allaround us, we must plan wisely for the future, using ourresources efficiently. The following are some ideas in keyareas that affect our quality of life. By pursuing these andother ideas, we can manage our growth while not stiflingour economy or reducing the quality of life we hold dear.

Specifically, we will:

• Encourage Smarter Growth and Better Land Use

• Invest in Transportation Solutions to Get DelawareMoving

Encouraging Smarter Growth andBetter Land UseAs I commute to Dover from my home near Wilmington,I am always amazed by the traffic sitting on Route 1, tryingto get onto I-95 at the Christiana Mall. I am also struck bythe huge increase in congestion as I drive on Route 1toward Rehoboth Beach.

Most Delawareans need a car to get to where they want togo, and the way that housing developments, shoppingcenters, and worksites have been created over time onlyexacerbates our reliance on cars and trucks. The more ourhousing, shopping, commerce, and places of employmentare separated geographically, farther and farther awayfrom town centers and public transportation, the moresprawl we experience.

If sitting in traffic were not bad enough, sprawl is

expensive, and all of us end up paying the price. Pavingover our farmland and green areas for new developmentinevitably requires more public investment in services likenew road construction and maintenance, new sewer lines,and expanded water facilities. It places additional burdenson first responders such as paramedics, police, and firedepartments, and often requires the construction of newschools. Unfortunately these investments in newlydeveloped areas often must be paid for through highertaxes. One national study found that, on average, thepublic infrastructure for a new home located 10 milesfrom a city center costs taxpayers twice as much as onenear the downtown area.7

And other expenses also are associated with sprawl. Ourfamilies incur higher transportation costs since we mustdrive greater distances when traveling to work, to shop, orto go to school. Studies have found that residents ofsprawling communities drive three to four times as muchas those living in compact, well-planned areas.8 In manycases, families need a second car to get through their dailyroutines and have to budget more and more to pay for gas.

But it does not have to be this way. Many states havepartnered with cities and towns to do a better job ofplanning for and managing growth. Smart growthdecisions – like mixed land use, clustered developmentand multiple transportation choices – help minimize all ofthese costs. Better use of existing infrastructure keepstaxes down, reduces traffic congestion, saves energy,preserves open spaces, and helps families become lessdependent on cars.9 Naturally, those who wish to driveshould be able to, but those who want or need otherchoices should have them available.

Smart growth also builds healthier and safer communities.When homes, work, and shopping are closer together,residents have more opportunity to walk and bike as apart of everyday life. Sedentary lifestyles contribute toobesity and put us at higher risk of heart disease, diabetes,and some forms of cancer. According to a 2007 reportfrom the Trust for America’s Health, nearly 1 in 4 Delawareadults are obese and even worse, 15 percent of Delaware’schildren are overweight. Nemours Health PreventiveServices estimates that another 21 percent of our childrenare at risk of becoming obese.

A Plan for Enhancing OurQuality of Life in DelawareWhen I was a kid, we spent virtually every summervacation at the Delaware beaches. We’d always camp atSandy Cove in Ocean View. And while I always wonderedwhat it might be like to stay in a hotel, I did develop anappreciation for the outdoors that I still have today andthat Carla and I try to pass on to Molly and Michael.

For the last two years, I’ve taken a different route to enjoyDelaware’s amazing beauty. Along with a group of otherbicyclists, I’ve ridden hundreds of miles, coveringDelaware’s back roads and small towns from one end ofthe state to the other.

Even with all of the development we’ve seen, this is still agorgeous state with mile after mile of farmland, forests,wetlands, and protected areas. We really are a “SmallWonder.” And we’ve got to keep much of the state exactlythat way.

But Delaware’s natural beauty doesn’t help those who arestuck in traffic, trying to get home to their families afterwork. And it is harder for our kids to develop anappreciation for the outdoors when we have to worryconstantly about whether they can safely walk or ride theirbikes near busy roads. So, where Delaware is growing, weneed to make sure we can reap the benefits of growthwhile maintaining those qualities we most enjoy.

Delawareans have a lot to be thankful for. We have miles ofcoastline, areas of natural beauty and wildlife, livable citieswith lots of arts and culture, and a lower cost of living thanplaces like Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C.,but easy access to them. This affords us a quality of life thatpeople in other parts of the country envy and appreciate.

In recent years, the growth of our economy – largelybased on our four “Cs” of chicken, chemicals, cars, andcredit cards – has given Delawareans wealth and abundantopportunities for economic success. That success,coupled with our natural resources and more livablelifestyle, also contributes to a positive quality of life.

Where do we go from here? How do we make sure thequality of life in Delaware is even better for futuregenerations?

A couple months ago, I released my economicdevelopment plan, setting forth some ideas to keep oureconomy growing and create more jobs. Clearly we wantan economy that continues to grow and thrive, but all ofour development efforts should meet not just economic,but also environmental and community goals thatcontribute to our long-term wellbeing.

Perhaps more importantly, we need to protect our way oflife, which in many respects revolves around how wedevelop and use our land. From the continueddevelopment of our urban areas, to our established andemerging suburbs and to the rural parts of the state, weneed to meet the challenges and opportunities thateconomic and population growth create.

The choices we make during the next 10 years willdetermine whether Delaware grows in a smart,manageable fashion for the next 100.

In short, now is the time to plan carefully for the futureand the Delaware we wish to leave behind for our childrenand grandchildren.

We need to explore that future and choose a forward-thinking course together. Our choices are to continue onthe state’s current course, or to move in the direction of abetter one. Development need not engulf the countrysidewe would like to preserve. We can have strong economicdevelopment in many areas while protecting our ruralheritage, natural landscapes and outdoor resources thatso many of us enjoy and that we all too often take forgranted.

If we truly wish to preserve the quality of life that makesDelaware a great place to live and work, we will have tomake tough choices about where to grow and develop, aswell as where not to develop – and of course we have tomake those choices recognizing the system of propertyrights on which our country has been built. But everyDelawarean I have met wants a better future for our stateand our children, and I’m confident that Delawareanssupport efforts to secure that future by viewing localopportunities as part of a broader, forward-lookingperspective.

Time is of the essence. These decisions are becomingurgent, as more and more of our natural landscape


developments can save an average of 31.8 percent ininfrastructure costs,11 so Delaware has a lot to gain byadopting more compact growth planning. The State’sLivable Delaware’s Community Design Subcommitteeincludes compact communities as one of its “corevalues.”12 But we can do more to encourage the adoptionof this smart growth approach by local governments by:

• Developing rational, reasonable andpredictable zoning regulations.

Builders have told me many times that their biggestconcern when state officials begin rewriting growthpolicies is maintaining predictability. Developers needpredictability as they weigh the risk of investing invarious projects.

• Offering local planning assistance regardingstatewide environmental issues.

Some environmental issues with statewideimplications, such as riparian buffers and mostfreshwater wetlands, currently are managed onlyunder local development codes, in a hodge-podgeof different ways with different code requirements.And yet, virtually no local government in the statehas an environmental scientist, biologist, orlandscape ecologist on staff. Given the abundantstate expertise in these issues, the Department ofNatural Resources and Environmental Controlshould provide direct assistance to localgovernments grappling with these issues. This notonly is a matter of more effective environmentalprotection, but also is cost-effective for the state inthe long run. Working with local governments toprotect these areas now can save millions of dollarsfor water quality improvements later and providethe aesthetic and recreational benefits of cleanwater.

• Developing a model statewide approach todeveloping new schools.

It is time for the state and developers to create apartnership and agree upon the financing of newschools. Rather than continue with an approachthat relies on different developer fees in differentareas throughout Delaware, the state ought towork with the counties and local governments todevelop one formula for financing new schools in

new planned communities. The state already hasapproved New Castle County’s approach torecouping costs from developers, so that may offera good starting point for the development of amutually agreed upon system that makescompliance easier for homebuilders whileensuring adequate revenues to local jurisdictions.A unified formula will not differentiate betweendevelopment in unincorporated areas anddevelopment in municipalities. The uniformedapproach will also provide a predictable systemthat homebuilders want.

Encouraging the Redevelopment ofBrownfields and GrayfieldsFor many years, states had to contend with the legal,regulatory and financial barriers to cleaning up andreusing old industrial sites (so-called brownfields), whilemost financial and legal incentives all but directeddevelopers to build new commercial building and housingon open farms or green areas (so-called greenfields orgreenspaces). In recent years, state and federal policieshave begun to encourage the re-use or “recycling” of olderbuildings and sites, a critical tool to prevent sprawl. In2001, our legislature passed a law that allowed theDelaware Economic Development Office’s Strategic Fundto be used for brownfield assessment and cleanup.13

However, many communities in Delaware still struggle tomaster the many funding sources and programs involvedwith community revitalization efforts.

Brownfields ought to be considered within the broadercontext of how our communities wish to use and preserveland, and not simply as an isolated program, as often is thecase. To protect public health while maximizingopportunities for effective land use and beneficialeconomic and community development, Delawareshould pursue the following strategies concerningbrownfields:

• Develop a brownfield redevelopmentinventory.

An inventory of this sort was pilot tested in SouthWilmington, and would be a useful tool statewide.Such an inventory would allow redevelopment to be

Studies have also found that well-designed compactneighborhoods can reduce crime rates.10 Communitieswhere people are outside and have common gatheringplaces like parks, playgrounds, and coffee shops havelower crime rates regardless of income level or location.

With adequate foresight and planning we can encouragetransportation, school construction, open spacepreservation, and other capital investments in areas thatare cost-effective and responsible. We can do all of this andstill respect the rights of property owners. I am well awarethat respect for property rights was a founding principle ofour great nation.

We can stimulate housing development in areas close tobusiness centers and transit hubs, thereby reducingcommute times, energy demand, and pollution. Byresponsibly planning for our state’s development, we canreduce these costs and maintain our quality of life.

During the past few years, the legislature has enacted lawsthat call for comprehensive growth plans, provide fundingfor open space acquisition and farmland preservation,improve cooperation between the state and developers,and increase matching grants for brownfields assessmentand cleanup. Our state still can do more to encouragesmarter growth and better land use through suchinitiatives as:

Making Growth Planning aResponsibility throughout StateGovernmentAll too often state agencies are stuck in their silos, focusingon their narrow policy areas, without stopping to considerthe bigger picture and their small but potentiallyimportant contribution to broader state issues likegrowth. In the mid-1990s the Delaware General Assemblypassed legislation creating a Cabinet Committee on StatePlanning Issues. The purpose of the committee is toadvise the governor on orderly growth and developmentof the state, but I believe this committee has beentremendously underutilized.

To better coordinate growth issues at the state level, I willensure that the Cabinet Committee on State Planning is anactive, forward-thinking body which coordinates efforts to

create a dashboard of activities from potential impacts ofdevelopment of our open space to transportation. Tounderscore the importance of this effort, I also will movethe State Planning Office out of the Office of Managementand Budget and into the governor’s office.

I will also direct state agencies to use their permittingauthority to encourage better growth-related outcomes.Some agencies have applied a narrow interpretation oftheir permitting authority, routinely agreeing to approveproposals if the project is technically feasible, regardless ofwhether it is the right thing to do. In such instances, thoseagencies do not consider the larger community concernof what impact the proposal might have on trafficcongestion, loss of forest and wildlife habitat, air quality, orstate taxpayers’ wallets. While zoning issues are and willalways be a local government prerogative, state agenciesought to think more expansively, work in a cross-cuttingmanner and use their permitting powers more effectively.

Helping Delaware’s Communitieswith Smart Growth PlanningOne way to reduce sprawl is to encourage the design andcreation of walkable, transit-friendly, mixed-usecommunities. These well-designed communitiesintegrate housing, retail businesses and workplaceswithin smaller, pedestrian-friendly areas. The designs canbe less costly for taxpayers than development thatrequires growth in new areas and buildings becausefewer investments in infrastructure like new roads,sewers and electricity are needed. Yet local zoningregulations and building codes can hinder thedevelopment of these communities because developersfind that buying land outside of designated growth zonesis cheaper and comes with fewer strings attached thanproperty inside designated growth zones, which is wherewe should be encouraging new construction.

The state can encourage compact communitydevelopment, as well as give Delawareans more diversehousing choices, by encouraging local governments topromote infill development and adopt parallel zoningregulations and building codes that level the regulatoryplaying field.

Recent studies have found that these efficient


risks of liability for a variety of unexpected claims. Forexample, cost cap coverage protects against cleanupcost overruns. A different kind of insurance coverage,pollution liability coverage, protects against futurethird-party claims for on-site and off-site personalinjury and property damage, including both knownand unknown contamination. By helping to purchasethese sorts of insurance policies, the state can furtherencourage the cleanup and development ofbrownfields.

• Facilitate the rehabilitation of “grayfields.” Not all developable land is contaminated likebrownfields. Grayfields – areas that often containblighted or obsolete buildings sitting on land thatmay not be contaminated and could be re-used –ought to be developed before greenspaces.Sometimes grayfields exist because a building hasoutlived its usefulness, often because it no longermeets building codes, or because old fuel tanks orseptic fields remain on site. Because these typicallywere sites of active commerce, grayfields oftenalready are served by existing infrastructure andtransit and can offer new possibilities for use, eitheras commercial, retail, or industrial space, or even forhousing or school sites. I will challenge the state’senvironmental and economic development agenciesto prioritize these sites for redevelopment anddevelop incentives and policies to encourage this.

Linking Smart Growth Criteria toState FundingThe State’s “power of the purse” can be used to rewarddesired kinds of smart growth. Several states have begun tore-examine how historical funding practices inadvertentlyhave encouraged the development of sprawl. Maryland, forexample, used its Smart Growth and NeighborhoodConservation Act to reduce sprawl by putting into place afunding preference for existing older communities whennew investments in public infrastructure, services, schoolsand other state investments coincide with the followingsorts of desirable criteria:

• Brownfield redevelopment

• Transit access to the site

• Water and sewer lines already on site

• Building designs incorporating environmentallysustainable features

• Buildings or projects conforming to the localcomprehensive smart growth plan

• Bike routes and walking paths planned in aproposed subdivision or neighborhood

Delaware should define spending priorities that stateagencies must follow before approving expenditures forprojects. This can help stop projects that are likely tocontribute to sprawl and the loss of critical farmland andgreen spaces. In the longer term, these criteria should beincorporated into legislation that will guide each agency’sbudget and spending processes.

Virtually all major state agencies, in one form or another,can play a meaningful role in this. All state agenciesshould think more broadly about the role they play indevelopment issues. For example, the Department ofEducation is involved in school construction, which is ahuge driver for land development. And yet the focusthere is on administrative issues regarding schoolconstruction – the number of classrooms, the numberof acres around the school facility, and the like. Butshould not the Department of Education also be askingquestions like, “Is this the right site for a school,notwithstanding what the developers are telling us? Arethere better uses for the land? Is it possible to createjoint use facilities that are shared by the school andother higher education, community, or private sectorcompanies and organizations? Can we do more torenovate and expand existing schools instead ofbuilding new ones?” I want all state agencies thinkingbroadly and creatively about the best ways to encouragesmarter growth.

An even stronger way to make the connections betweenhousing, transportation, quality of life, and economicdevelopment much more concrete is to tie future statefunding to efficiency and quality growth. In other words,plans for development that will generate more traffic thanthe nearby roads can handle would not qualify for statefunds. My administration will be certain that newdevelopment projects that are not located withintargeted growth zones will have to pay for all necessary

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considered at the regional, or at least the landscape,scale. This is vital for things like transportationplanning, school planning and other infrastructureand services. It would allow prioritization of sites forredevelopment, and identification of areas whereinvestors and developers may get the best return oninvestment for any needed upgrades ininfrastructure and services to supportredevelopment. This helps invest taxpayer moneywisely. An inventory also would allow the analysis ofclusters of potential redevelopment sites of varioussizes in a manner that can create synergisticopportunities. For examples, lands near the Port ofWilmington may be best targeted for portexpansion/longshoreman job creation, while areasisolated from communities may be best used forlight industrial development and industrial jobcreation – both of which are needed in Delaware.This helps fit the redevelopment use into theexisting community character and may fill anidentified need of the community. Finally, theprocess of developing an inventory provides theopportunity for stakeholders to participate inidentification of potential opportunities as well asany problems. With this early vetting of potentialsites and opportunities, we can build a strongredevelopment-marketing tool that outlines thebusiness opportunities in various local settings, witha range of potential sites suitable for many uses.

• Provide one-stop-shopping for localgovernments and redevelopment agenciesthat are attempting to revitalize oldercontaminated properties.

For example, as governor, I will make a member of mystaff responsible for serving as an advocate and singlepoint of contact for local governments, coordinatefunding sources and help navigate state and localbureaucracies to get other permits related todevelopment.

• Provide funding for neighborhood groups’legal expenses to encourage acquisition ofbrownfields.

The current state brownfield grants programs will notprovide funds to pay the legal fees of neighborhoodgroups during the purchase of a brownfield site. The

state ought to create more partnerships betweengovernment and nonprofit organizations, as doing sowill increase purchase, mitigation, and re-use of theselands. The funds could be provided with the caveatthat the groups redevelop the land within a certaintime frame.

• Streamline permitting. The state needs to streamline certain permits forbrownfield sites. One example is the requirement toget a permit to de-water a trench on a constructionsite. The state Department of Natural Resources andEnvironmental Control’s Division of Air & WasteManagement requires a plan for this as part of theinvestigation or a remediation work plan, while thesame department’s Division of Water Resources alsorequires a permit. The state should review each andevery step of the brownfield redevelopment processand seek out ways to streamline the process, ensuringpublic safety and health and adequate oversight, butreducing unnecessary and redundant bureaucracythat may be slowing down abatement and cleanups ofbrownfields. I will direct the Department of NaturalResources and Environmental Control and theDelaware Economic Development Office to worktogether to develop reasonable operations that areless onerous and bureaucratic than attempts that havefailed in the past.

• Ensure that brownfield tax incentives focuson redevelopment.

The state needs to ensure that its various tax andbusiness incentives that deal with brownfields provideincentives that encourage cleanup and redevelopmentof the land, not other goals. For example, the State’sBlue Collar Tax Credit for brownfields has beenunderutilized because it rewards job creation, notredevelopment. Job creation is certainly critical, and sois brownfield redevelopment.

• Buy down environmental insurance premiums tofacilitate brownfield redevelopment by limitingor capping liability and cleanup costs.

States like Massachusetts have been able to encouragethe redevelopment of brownfield sites through such aprogram. Environmental insurance policies canprotect the redeveloper of a brownfield site against


• Transitioning farms to produce highdemand agricultural products.

The most obvious way to preserve farmland is topreserve farms by helping to make farmingprofitable. Commodity crops such as corn andsoybeans may not always be profitable to produce,although the recent use of corn and soybeans inthe production of ethanol and biodiesel fuelaround the country may prove otherwise. But thestate also ought to work with farmers to considergrowing consumer-oriented crops. For example,barley and hops can supply microbreweries up anddown the East Coast, while organic vegetablesincreasingly are in demand in restaurants andgrocery stores. Education and outreach regardingthese market opportunities and investments by thestate will be important. But if today’s commodityfarmers choose to transition to these sorts ofemerging agricultural opportunities, or at least tosell out to smaller value-added growers, horsefarmers, and other agriculture-related farmersinstead of developers, this could diversify ouragricultural base in Delaware while preserving theland.

Transportation Ideas to GetDelaware MovingIn large part, migration trends over the past severaldecades within Delaware have reflected those throughoutthe United States. While Delawareans were concentratedin Wilmington for much of our state’s history, the post-World War II boom in automobile sales – along with thedevelopment of the interstate highway system –contributed to the rise of suburbs and outward expansion.

That trend continues today. Delawareans continue tomove away from the city centers and spread out to lessdense areas. However, most of our jobs remain in thecities – Wilmington, Newark, and Dover – and along themajor corridors like U.S.13, 40, and Delaware 1, 2, and141.15

As you would expect, this increases both the distance andtime of our commutes. Between 2000 and 2025, theaverage trip length in Delaware is projected to increase by

9 percent, while the amount of time we spend in our carswill grow by almost half (48 percent).16

By the year 2025 our elderly population will have grownthree times faster than the non-elderly.17 Many of theseolder Delawareans will prefer not to drive but to usepublic transportation.

With increases in travel distances and in the number ofelderly, the demands upon our transportationinfrastructure will be significant. Most of the responsibilitywill fall upon our state government. While states onaverage maintain about 20 percent of the roadways withintheir borders, Delaware’s Department of Transportation(DelDOT) is responsible for about 90 percent of thestate’s 12,000 lane miles.18

Most metropolitan areas across the country areexperiencing the same congestion we are in Delaware.19

We can learn from other states and communities that arebeginning to implement new approaches totransportation planning: increasing the availability of highquality transit service, and ensuring connectivity betweenpedestrian, bike, transit, and road facilities. In short, ourpeers across the country are using a multi-modelapproach to transportation to create a variety oftransportation options and take pressure off ourcongested roadways. It is incumbent upon stategovernment to plan wisely for our future transportationneeds, particularly in the following areas:

Reducing CongestionTo reduce congestion on our roads, I believe Delawareshould:

• Make congestion reduction the primary goal ofstate investments in our transportationinfrastructure.

Congestion impacts our quality of life and harmsthe bottom line of our businesses. Smallimprovements in reducing traffic congestionimprove worker productivity and make businessesmore apt to remain in an area because they canoperate more efficiently. As part of a broader effortto make DelDOT work more effectively, I believethe state ought to make congestion reduction theprimary goal of state investments in transportation.

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roads, sewers, parks, schools, and other infrastructure ontheir own.

Locating State Government Offices inDowntown AreasOur state government should lead by example when itcomes to making forward-thinking growth managementdecisions. Since our government controls the leasing andconstruction of its own office space, it should abide by thesame Smart Growth principles that it encourages localgovernments and the private sector to adopt.

Delaware should select new state office leases andbuilding construction based on responsible growthcriteria that include: access to downtown areas, access topublic transportation, use of redeveloped brownfieldproperties, and potential job creation throughneighborhood revitalization.

Other states already have taken similar action. In 2000,for example, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvaniasigned the Downtown Location Law, which encouragesstate agencies to locate new offices in central businessdistricts. The law requires the Pennsylvania Departmentof General Services to establish guidelines for stateagencies that facilitate downtown location. The lawallows flexibility in considering factors such as theavailability of public transportation, public safety, andlocal economic impact. California also has enactedsimilar state building location guidelines throughexecutive order.

Preserving Farmland and OpenSpacesAs a member of the state’s Agricultural Land PreservationFoundation Board, I have seen firsthand the value of ourstate’s efforts to protect our farms. The state’s AgriculturalLands Preservation Program has permanently protectedmore than 80,000 acres.14 We must continue to fightsprawl by purchasing as many preservation easementsfrom additional landowners as possible. Recent decreasesin real estate values may provide a good opportunity toacquire additional easements at reasonable prices.

But there is more we can do to preserve farmland and

open spaces, including:

• Enhancing the conservation options forDelaware landowners who want to protecttheir land, especially those in designatedrural areas.

This starts with improving the financial literacy oflandowners about their options and how best tostructure their estate for the most financial gain andbest conservation of land. Just as I helpedchampion the development of Delaware’snationally-recognized Money School, I will supportthe development of a similar financial literacy andland conservation program to help Delaware’sfarmers and landowners benefit from and preservethe land they love.

• Encouraging the use of Transfer ofDevelopment Rights (TDR) to protectgreenspaces while allowing for futuredevelopment.

TDR programs allow for future growth withindesignated areas of a community, while maintainingrural greenspaces. This helps avert residentialsprawl by directing development to areas that aremore appropriate, such as near urban areas whereinfrastructure is readily accessible. TDRs protectopen space at no expense to taxpayers and ensurethat landowners do not suffer a reduction inproperty value that can accompany other zoningmechanisms. They also provide conservation-minded landowners with a financial alternative todevelopment. And TDRs also can facilitate theconstruction of more affordable housing becausethey promote compact development. As governor Iwould work to establish a statewide TDR program,which would provide more opportunities statewidewhile overcoming the challenges posed by thelimitations of local governments for landacquisition and transfers. My administration’s TDRprogram will coordinate with county officials sothat development rights from a farm in Sussex orKent can be used in a high-growth area of NewCastle County.


Delaware’s state government is a large consumer ofenergy and one of the biggest customers for new cars andtrucks. Our state government should lead by example inthe way it consumes energy and foreign imported oil.

Within six years, every car in Delaware’s fleet should be ahybrid or an alternative fuel vehicle. State governmentalso should continue to champion the installation ofalternative fuel pumps (like E-85 ethanol) by encouragingthe purchase of fuel from suppliers that install alternativefuel pumps at their service stations. By leveraging thestate’s fuel purchasing power, we can increase theavailability of alternative fuels in Delaware and encourageDelawareans to help reduce our dependence on oil.

In doing so, DelDOT would be required to invest instrategies to reduce congestion on our highwaysand roads, focusing on such major sources ofcongestion as identifying and removing accidentsmore quickly, eliminating known bottlenecks,coordinating traffic signals to improve traffic flow,and designating truck- and bus-only lanes.

• Invest in Integrated TransportationManagement Systems.

It is extremely costly to build new roads or addlanes to existing roads. But a more cost-effectiveway to reduce congestion is to invest in IntegratedTransportation Management Systems. Thesesystems rely on diverse technologies to improvetraffic flow, communicate traffic conditions in realtime to drivers to enable them to plan their routesto avoid congestion, adjust traffic signals, andcoordinate incident management to identify,respond to, and clear accidents more quickly,among other strategies. Due to budget limitations,the state has implemented ITMS technologiescovering only 250 out of the state’s 4,000 miles ofroadways, focusing on the I-95 corridor, Dover, andSussex County resort areas. I would proposefunding the deployment of ITMS technologies thatreduce congestion on the next highest priority 250miles of roadways, based on DelDOT assessmentsof congestion, traffic volumes, commercialimportance, and other factors.

Promoting Alternatives to Driving• Improve DART bus routes to ensure that

people can get to where they work. We need to systematically and continuously evaluatewhether DART bus routes are serving their ridershipadequately. The state needs to use rider surveys andgather feedback from employers and communityorganizations to ensure that DART routes are gettingworkers to their places of employment as directly aspossible. As needs evolve and are identified, the statemay need to invest in new buses and routes and re-adjust routes that no longer are meeting the needs ofriders. (For example, I recently announced mysupport for implementing bus service on Sundays.)

Similarly, the state needs to look for more efficientways to streamline school and public transportation.With school buses visiting nearly every area of thestate twice a day, we should be looking at ways to usethis important resource to help more Delawareansget where they need to go.

• Explore improvements to Delaware’s railsystems.

Rail is one of the best ways to get Delawareansmoving and encourage smarter development.Delaware should explore options like speeding theconnection of the Septa and MARC systems to allowmore people to travel by rail and bring workers andbusinesses into Delaware. We must focus onextending rail service where it makes the mosteconomic sense. Northern New Castle Countycould benefit, for example, from new rail serviceconnecting it to Aberdeen, Md., where thousandsof new federal jobs are going to be placed in thecoming years as part of the military’s base-realignment process.

• Encourage infrastructure development forwalking and biking.

We should be doing everything we can as a state toencourage pedestrians and cyclists. Getting morepeople out of their cars not only benefits theenvironment and reduces traffic, it is great exercise.As governor, I will make it a priority for Delaware toenhance existing trails and walkways and toencourage developers to include cycling andwalking paths in new developments. It is my goal tomake Delaware the friendliest state in the countryfor pedestrians and cyclists.

Demonstrate Leadership by UsingAlternative Fuel State VehiclesThe days of cheap gasoline are over. In my chapter onenergy, I discuss why it is important for Delaware’seconomic and environmental security to reduce ourdependence on oil and other fossil fuels. Stategovernment can and should do its part and lead the wayby transitioning its fleet of vehicles to hybrids andalternative fuel vehicles.


Now why is that? What is wrong withpicking industries?

Let me put it this way. Earlier in my career I was fortunateenough to work at some great companies, includingNextel and Comcast. As an executive responsible formergers, acquisitions, corporate strategy, and finance, Iworked with some very talented financial professionals,including top-notch venture capitalists — people whomake bets on specific industries and companies byproviding startup funds to young businesses.

Even the best venture capitalists — those who makemillions of dollars a year — make plenty of badinvestments. Some people say that of every 10investments made by good venture capitalists, seven willfail, two will do reasonably well, and one will be a grandslam. Those aren’t very good odds, especially if decidingwho to fund is in the hands of government officials orothers who are not highly trained and experienced.

There is another reason too: the dangers of the “followthe herd” mentality. Take biotech, for example. Thebiotechnology industry has huge potential. We have someterrific companies in Delaware that are likely to be verysuccessful. Plus the state has done some good work toenhance their prospects of success — like creating theDelaware Biotech Institute and attracting groups like theFraunhofer Center for Molecular Biotechnology. Weshould continue to nurture these types of enterprises.

But we need to be careful about placing too many eggs inthe biotechnology basket, unless we find a unique nichewhere Delaware has a great chance of being moresuccessful than other states. That is because other statesalso have biotech strategies and are pouring hundreds ofmillions of dollars into them. Some will be successful andsome will not. The key for Delaware is to figure out ourstrengths, play aggressively to them, and avoid being asecond-rate player in areas where others have a strongadvantage.

If we are not picking specific industries, what specificallyshould we do? Let us start by identifying the kinds ofcompanies we want to retain, grow, and attract.

Let’s face it., this is not the corporate world of TheOrganization Man, the book that described the loyalty

displayed in the mid-20th century by both employers andemployees. Those days are long gone. Most employeesthese days can expect to have several employers duringtheir careers. Employee turnover is high. Employer-worker loyalty is no longer a foregone conclusion.

The best employers today are those who pay decentwages, treat their employees with respect, and make everyeffort to provide them with chances to improve their skillsso they will be able to take advantage of new opportunitiesas they come along. Those are the companies we seek. Wealso want good corporate citizens who will providefinancial and time resources to the community and whoare respectful of our environment. Companies whosupport “green” technologies will be increasingly valuablemembers of our corporate community.

So how do we attract, grow, and retain these types ofterrific employers? To answer that question, we must putourselves in their shoes. What do they care about most?Honestly, it’s not that complicated.

An educated workforce is at the top of the list. The bestcompanies choose locations with great education systemsand skilled workers – even over those with low taxes22 (notthat the two are mutually exclusive and in fact, we mustmake sure that they are not). It is clear that in addition toinvesting in businesses, we must invest in the humancapital needed to support the industries we want to grow.

Within the next 10 to 15 years, nearly two-thirds of all jobswill require some post-secondary education. Delaware willneed to increase the number of four-year degree andassociate’s degree holders and certificate holders simplyto keep pace with changing knowledge and skill demandsrequired by employers. In order to attract companies andgrow our economy we must focus workforcedevelopment on industries that represent our future,increase education and training opportunities, andmodernize our approach to develop a skilled workforce.

Delaware must work with businesses to design curriculathat reflect the basic skills and requirements of the kindsof knowledge-based businesses we want to attract. Ourneighboring state, Maryland, took on the challenge over adecade ago to align its economy and workforcedevelopment efforts. Maryland identified 10 broad careerclusters linked to that state’s “key economic sectors.” They

Turning Ideas intoMeaningful Employment(TIME) Thirty years ago if someone had said that over the nextthree decades DuPont, Chrysler, and GM would lay offmore than half their employees, but that Delaware wouldemerge in relatively good economic health, we’d havethought it was crazy. But we survived and even gainedstrength. We did it in part by adding to our “3 Cs”(chemicals, cars, and chickens) a fourth “C”: credit cards.This just goes to show that the only law of life is change.

Today our economy is changing again. Even in thefinancial services industry, which represented the progressof the last 20 years, employment has dropped during thisdecade.20 Our population is growing and aging as so manyretirees are moving here in search of low property taxesand the Delaware quality of life; and the ratio of workersto retirees is declining, which means we will need todramatically increase workforce productivity to maintainthe lifestyle that all these Delawareans, new and old, havecome to expect. Meanwhile, companies can and do shiftjobs all over the world. We clearly cannot rely just on ourtraditional industries. We need to create a Delaware thathelps our existing companies grow and that develops newjobs, in new fields.

One thing I know how to do is build a business. And Iknow what it takes to help entrepreneurs be successful –more venture capital, more networking opportunities,and stronger ties between our colleges and universitiesand industry. But most importantly, in a time of changeand global competition, more-of-the-same won’t cut it.Timid steps forward, or spending a little more money hereand there on approaches that have worked before, willnot work in the new world economy. Doing more of whatwe have been doing is not enough – it is time for changeand bold leadership.

What does that change look like?

That is a complex question involving macroeconomictrends, corporate policies, unions, investors,demographics of the workforce, politics, and countless

other factors. But I offer this proposal: even as wecontinue to value and work with our traditionalbusinesses, we also must make our state more attractive toa class of businesspeople who will help usher in a neweconomic era in Delaware – entrepreneurs.

Expert analysis and my own conversations with businessowners confirm that Delaware is not consideredsupportive to entrepreneurship. In fact Delaware ranks inthe bottom 10 percent of states in the Kauffman Index ofEntrepreneurial Activity.21 This means that fewer newbusinesses are started per 100,000 residents here than inalmost any other state. The Council on Competitivenessalso found Delaware lacking as a place attractive toentrepreneurs. We need to do better.

Clearly we value the immense contributions of our largeemployers. They have been mainstays of employment,civic involvement, and charitable giving for decades. Theywill continue to be major assets and, if we work withthem effectively, potential sources of additional growth.However, some of our major employers have announcedthat they are unlikely to add significant jobs here, so wewould be courting danger to rely on them primarily asmajor generators of big job growth in the future.

Instead, let us talk about what we should be doing tomake Delaware more attractive than ever for the kinds ofemployers who will promote job growth and be goodcorporate citizens.

Creating the Right ClimateThe most effective role government can play in economicdevelopment is to create an environment in whicheconomic activity can be vibrant. Understand that is adifferent role from picking specific companies orindustries to bet on. A very different role.

Here is what I mean. As I travel around the state, I amoften asked what I believe will be the “next big thing”—the industry or piece of legislation that will provide thesame sort of jumpstart the Financial Center DevelopmentAct did more than two decades ago. I think that is thewrong question to ask. Delaware should not be in thebusiness of picking new industries to bet on, although weshould be working closely with the ones already here, tohelp make them stronger.


Entrepreneurial Action Group. Chaired by my friendErnie Dianastasis, this group of highly successfulentrepreneurs and venture capitalists recently launcheda nonprofit entity called First State Innovation. Itsmission is to “connect entrepreneurs with traditionalseed capital, access to alternative funding, skilledhuman capital, commercial capitalization assistance,entrepreneurial resources, and intellectual capital.” 29

In 2003, the Council on Competitiveness conducted anassessment of the competitiveness of the Wilmingtonregion. Besides identifying the need to make Delawaremore attractive to entrepreneurs that I just discussed,the assessment also suggested that we improve linkagesamong academic institutions and the corporate sector inDelaware.

Improving Our Economy ThroughOur Academic Institutions To create the strong academic-corporate links that canproduce future entrepreneurs, states such as Marylandand Iowa have developed entrepreneurship certificateprograms in fields as diverse as engineering and liberalarts.30 The program at the University of Maryland is a greatexample. More than half the spots in the program arereserved for students from outside the business school.Students take four courses in entrepreneurship and thendevelop in-depth business plans in the final semester.

Entrepreneurship education initiatives at the University ofDelaware have achieved recognition. In both 2003 and2004, the university’s Alfred Lerner College of Business andEconomics was named one of the Nation’s top 100entrepreneurial colleges and universities by Entrepreneurmagazine. The college offers a variety of entrepreneurshipcourses and programs, including a program for teachers inthe Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship,a new concentration in venture creation for MBA students,undergraduate courses in small business management, andthe opportunity for students to work on real-life projectswith the Delaware Small Business Development Center.31

We need to applaud these important and timely efforts.We also need to broaden and increase them.

Another important way to use our higher education

resources is to support faculty entrepreneurship. Whilegovernment should not try to turn professors intoentrepreneurs, it should be prepared to leveragecommercially viable research and ensure institutionalsupport for those faculty who are interested inentrepreneurship.32 To do this, the National GovernorsAssociation’s “Guide to Strengthening StateEntrepreneurship Policy” recommends questions weneed to be asking:

• “Are faculty members encouraged by theadministration to pursue entrepreneurial venturesand/or to collaborate with private industry andentrepreneurial companies?

• Do university intellectual property policiesdiscourage entrepreneurship or thecommercialization of research results?

• What sorts of resources, such as sabbatical leaves,do our institutions provide to assist facultyentrepreneurs?

• Do faculty union contracts have supportiveprovisions such as adequate time for outsideconsulting?

• Would faculty entrepreneurs be encouraged bytheir peers if they pursued an entrepreneurialbusiness venture?

• Can universities become equity partners in suchventures?”33

Such collaboration is not meant to change thefundamental goal of our educational institutions — that is,teaching, and scholarship — but offers many win/winpossibilities for education and commercialization. DaveRoselle, the highly regarded former president of theUniversity of Delaware, has outlined a series of ideas toleverage resources and encourage facultyentrepreneurship. Professors often aim to attract grantsfrom corporations and organizations like the NationalInstitutes of Health (NIH) and the National ScienceFoundation (NSF) in order to finance their own researchprojects. Roselle has suggested that state government offermatching funds for such grants. So a $2 million NSF grantmight include $400,000 from the state. Roselle believesthat funders would find such matches highly attractive,bringing more outside funds into Delaware institutions.

then incorporated substantive contributions fromindustry advisors to create the “knowledge and skills”components of these career clusters. States like Kentuckyand Virginia have instituted programs to gauge the skilllevels of their workforce. Career readiness certificatesconfirm to employers that an individual possesses basicskills in reading, math and finding information – skillswhich all businesses need. And here in Delaware,Delaware Tech has worked closely with companies andtrade groups to align its curriculum with the needs ofemployers. State government, working in partnershipwith industries and businesses, can offer integratedworkforce training programs to retool workers and equipour children with the skills to compete in the future.

We also must continue to focus on our quality of life sowe can be, as Bill Gates describes it, “a place wheretalent really enjoys coming there, and working there,and raising their kids in that location.”23 Delaware hasdone a lot in this regard — from the redevelopment ofthe Wilmington Riverfront, to the preservation of ourCoastal Zone and farmland from overdevelopment, tothe Livable Delaware initiative, to strengthening artsorganizations and other cultural treasures. Of coursewe need to do more. That includes making our healthcare system available to more Delawareans andaccelerating the improvement of our transportationand broadband communications networks.

Playing to Our StrengthsWe must also play to our strengths. Delaware has longbeen known as a “corporate capital” with streamlinedbusiness practices and low taxes — the third lowest in thenation, according to the Tax Foundation.24 Delaware has aconcentration of corporations in the automobile,chemistry, financial services and insurance, and corporatelegal services markets. Our strong legal services industry isa prime example of how industries with high paying jobscan grow given the right climate. Protecting our franchiseas the best legal environment in the country and, in fact,building on it, is a crucial economic development goal.

Delaware’s intellectual and economic firepower isrecognized worldwide. The Wilmington region producespatents at more than three times the national average.25

Delaware companies are leaders in some very exciting

areas. In addition, Delawareans are more productivethan workers across the country. While our wages areclose to the national average, our cost of living and costof doing business are below the national average.26 Ourproximity to major markets is a big plus for our region aswell.

Entrepreneurship and “Growing OurOwn”Just as government is not well suited to picking futureblockbuster industries, government also is not the idealprovider of entrepreneurship support services, which weshall examine in a moment.

Instead, state officials must make a vigorous effort topromote and value a culture of entrepreneurship in theprivate sector. As a report of the National GovernorsAssociation suggests, “This means that we must adoptpolicy changes aimed at meeting the most compellingneeds of entrepreneurs.”27

A comprehensive study done for the National GovernorsAssociation (NGA) identified five steps governments cantake to become an “entrepreneur friendly” state:28

• Integrate entrepreneurship into economicdevelopment efforts.

• Use the education system to nurture futureentrepreneurs.

• Facilitate the incubation of entrepreneurialcompanies.

• Facilitate the investment in diverse sources ofrisk capital for entrepreneurs and growthcompanies.

• “Get out of the way” through regulatory reform.

The state of Delaware already is pursuing some of theseexcellent recommendations. With leadership from theprivate sector and state encouragement, we could createan explosion of entrepreneurial growth that futuregenerations will look back upon with gratitude.

Such a model may be emerging in Delaware.

Since 2004 I’ve been part of an exciting effort to createmore entrepreneurial activity in Delaware: the Delaware


(GSP). Delaware ranked 26th, with just 0.3 percent of itsGSP devoted to venture capital. (The national average in2002 was 1.1 percent.)37 As David and I pointed out in ourreport, there simply isn’t enough resident venture capitalavailable in Delaware to make meaningful investments.

A Capital Idea for Delaware Delaware must do more than put its toe into the waterwhen it comes to venture capital. It is unlikely we will beable to attract the quality of investors and level of interestthat is necessary to promote meaningful economic activitywith an investment of less than $50 million.

Of course, that does not necessarily mean the stateneeds to provide the money itself. In fact, state generaloperating funds are a poor choice as a source of thesefunds. There are other ways that states can generateventure capital, as I will outline below. And in no caseshould the investing decisions be made by stateemployees, elected officials, or anybody other thanexperienced investors with a strong track record ofinvesting.

Creating the right venture capital environment is alsoabout more than the money. That is why a strongsupport mechanism like that proposed by First StateInnovations is important, because it can provide some ofthe services and networking opportunities thatentrepreneurs need to be successful.

Some states offer handsome incentives to angel investorswhose monies are most often used to provide seed capitalfor newly formed businesses. Typically, tax credits are 20 to30 percent of the amount invested. Virginia, Maine,Vermont and West Virginia offer credits of up to 50percent, subject to some limitations. Hawaii offers a taxcredit of up to 100 percent over five years in qualifyinghigh-technology businesses.38

Iowa adopted an “angel investor” law as part of acomprehensive program to establish infrastructure forventure capital development. The law allows a tax credit of20 percent of the amount of a cash investment made topurchase equity in qualifying businesses and community-based seed capital funds. Tax credits can be used againstpersonal and corporate income taxes, financialinstitutions’ franchise taxes, insurance premium taxes, or

the credit union moneys and credits tax. An individualinvestor can claim up to $250,000 in a single year (fiveindividual investments in five separate qualifyingbusinesses). The maximum amount of tax creditsauthorized under the legislation is $10 million.39

Utah, Michigan, Ohio and South Carolina have all availedthemselves of a new form of financing venture capitalactivities. They have borrowed funds from major financialinstitutions and have used the funds to invest in venturecapital firms which commit to search for local venturecapital deals. The states commit to issue tax credits if theloan is not repaid.

Closer to home, Pennsylvania invested $2 million in BenFranklin Technology Partners of SoutheasternPennsylvania. The grant was designed to insure angelinvestors for up to 25 percent of their investments, to amaximum of $200,000. Investors pay an annual fee of 1.5percent of the total invested for this coverage. Accordingto an independent analysis, this investment has createdtens of thousand of jobs, more than $400 million in statetax revenues, and a stunning 23:1 return on theCommonwealth’s money.40

Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, and Massachusettshave made investments in a non-traditional venture firm,which invests in successful small local businesses with thepotential for nationwide and global expansion but lackingresources and expertise. The states make investments intoa venture fund. The venture fund in turn raises matchingcapital and then finds small businesses in underservedareas in which to invest. The venture fund forms a boardof directors for the small business and providesexperienced entrepreneurs who add value to themanagement and direction of the small company, allowingit to grow. State investments yield a double bottom-line –they grow companies and jobs in their state and receive areturn on their investment. Small businesses whichreceive capital have the option of buying out the ventureshares in their business, or shares are sold at a profit andreturned to the state.

We should all take a lesson in financing from MuhammadYunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Yunus wonthe prize in recognition of the practice of microlending inBangladesh. Yunus built a successful bank by providing

Finally, we should explore the idea of a university venturefund as a means of spurring economic development.Michigan’s successful university venture fund is the mostactive such program in the nation. The University ofMichigan’s Wolverine Venture Fund (WVF) has beenmaking strategic investments in early-stage, technology-oriented companies since it began in 1997.

The WVF is run as a collaborative effort among the privatesector, the faculty and the students at the University ofMichigan. When an entrepreneur submits a fundingrequest, the largely student-run WVF creates aninvestment proposal the students eventually will defendto a senior advisory board of venture-capital professionals.If the board approves, the WVF invests in the company.The investment typically totals between $50,000 and$200,000 for seed and first-round expenditures in theproject. Among the most noteworthy aspects of the WVFis its innovative funding method. “Seeded” with a one-time endowment from the university, the fund’s proceedsfunnel directly back into its own reserves.34

Increasing the Availability of RiskCapitalGoogle. Amazon. Many of America’s most successfulcompanies have developed thanks to the financial andintellectual resources provided by venture capitalists. InDelaware, the old Juniper Bank (now part of Barclay’s)and the growing Finestationary.com are two examples ofventure-backed organizations. And there are a few smalllocal venture capitalists, including the DelawareInnovation Fund (DIF) and Inflection Point ventures. Butgenerally, Delaware lacks venture capital resources.

Without local venture capitalists pounding the pavements,looking for deals and connecting entrepreneurs, we’re notmaking the most of our potential for economicdevelopment and job creation.

Why does all this really matter? According to the NationalGovernors Association’s Center for Best Practices, riskcapital serves five basic functions:35

• It is used for research and development (R&D).In certain fields such as biotech, R&D is critical.

• It is used as “innovation capital,” which funds

applied research to develop new products.

• It is used as “seed capital,” which underwrites theentrepreneurs and other new and youngcompanies that do not have fully establishedcommercial operations. These firms may not beeligible to obtain traditional funding and the seedfunds help them continue research and productdevelopment and to launch new products.

• It is used as “venture capital,” an institutionalmeans of financing high-growth, risk-oriented,innovative businesses that cannot get fundingthrough traditional bank routes.

• It is used as “mezzanine capital,” which financesprofitable, established companies, generally inthe form of subordinated debt.

I collaborated with David J. Freschman, president andCEO of the Delaware Innovation Fund (DIF), on a 2001study and report to the Strategic Economic Council of theState of Delaware on the impact of venture capital inDelaware. David knows firsthand about the role of venturecapital in business. The DIF is a $10 million privatenonprofit venture capital firm established in 1995. Itprovides investment funding and other help to encouragethe growth of startup and early-stage high-tech companiesin Delaware and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Theother help comes in the form of technical assistancethrough business counseling, entrepreneurial seminarsand the DIF’s wide network of professional resources.

In our report, we identified the role other stategovernments have played in the development of venturecapital:

Venture capital has become such an importantcomponent in the creation of economic development thatmany states see this financing tool as a critical componentto their economic development initiative. In fact, 31 stateshave allocated state funds to venture capital; 17 providetax incentives to encourage venture capital investing; 19direct state pension funds to venture capital; and 10 useother state fiduciary funds.36

According to the Progressive Policy Institute,Massachusetts and California led the nation in 2002 forventure capital as a percentage of gross state product


Promoting Economic Developmentin Rural Delaware As I travel across the state I hear a common refrain fromparents, especially in Kent and Sussex Counties. They tell me,“I want my kids to be able to come home after college, get agreat job and settle down. We know they love the quality oflife here, but they’ll only come back if they can work atsomething they love and get paid what they’re worth.”

This is a huge issue for Delaware. Certainly, Kent andSussex Counties are booming — and this boom will createplenty of job opportunities. But so far, most of those jobshave been relatively low-paying ones in the hospitality andtourism industries and in health care.

Delawareans want more. So whatdo we do?Over the last few years, I’ve spoken extensively withfriends who have focused significant time and attention —with terrific results — on rural economic development.One of them is Mark Warner, the former governor ofVirginia and one of the founders of Nextel. We met back in1989, when I joined the company as its 13th employee.Gov. Warner’s Virginia Works initiative represented aseries of targeted investments designed to create new jobsin rural Virginia. Its main features included:

• Aggressive recruitment of new employers to ruraland small-city areas of the state;

• Investment in a network of rails-to-trails (turningunused railroad rights of way into hiking and bikerails) to promote tourism;

• An initiative to promote the sale and marketing ofhandmade Virginia arts and crafts through ArtisanCenters and cooperatives of artisans (a strategythat also has been aggressively followed inKentucky42);

• A program well-received by employers to launchan advanced manufacturing or packagingprogram at a community college;

• Export assistance for small manufacturers indistressed areas to stem the flow ofmanufacturing jobs overseas;

• Support for specialty agriculture throughadditional research at local academic institutionsand the development and marketing of high-value specialty agricultural production;

• Creation of a Virginia Community DevelopmentBank to provide capital to new and expandingbusinesses in rural Virginia; and

• Support for rural high-speed broadbandconnecting schools, hospitals, businesses andindustrial parks, and allowing commercial carriersto connect homes at a lower cost.

Another example is Iowa, a highly rural state. Iowa hasdone a fine job of transforming its economy by finding theintersection of agriculture, university research, andindustry. Thanks to major investments in venture capital,energy regulation reform, export assistance, and otherinitiatives, it is on a real roll in terms of increases in jobs,exports, and income.43

The Iowa story is an interesting one for Delaware, giventhe importance of agriculture to our state. A significantnumber of Delawareans work in agriculture, food andrelated industries. Production agriculture alonecontributes hundreds of millions of dollars to the state’seconomy. Beyond that, agricultural industries are topmultipliers in our economy. This means that every timeagriculture grows, it generates an even bigger increase inDelaware’s overall economy.44

Preserving farmland not only contributes to our quality oflife, it helps attract desirable new agribusiness to our state.A good example is Picsweet Frozen Foods, which came toSussex County to process vegetables and therebygenerated millions of dollars for local farmers. Bypreserving our farmland, we ensure that such industrieswill continue to prosper and generate jobs and revenuefor Delaware.45 Conversely, the loss of farmland leads toother economic losses such as the loss of processingplants, machinery sales, transportation, and more.46

Farmland also provides an equitable tax base for ourcitizens. For every $1 paid in taxes, farms require just 50cents in public services. For that same $1 in taxes,residential land demands $1.20 in services such as police,schools, and roads.47

affordable business loans to those who ordinarily wouldnot have access to start-up capital through traditionallending institutions. Ironically, small businesses in thiscountry usually list as their number one impediment thelack of access to capital. Traditional lenders look forbusinesses with an established track record and credithistory. Many first-time entrepreneurs find it almostimpossible to borrow the money they need to start abusiness.

States can invest in and support micro-lenders. Theselenders traditionally provide loans to businesses with lessthan five employees who have been turned down by atraditional bank. The federal government has programs tomake capital available to micro-lenders which can bematched by states to create a larger loan pool. Forexample, New Mexico has invested a million dollars inexisting micro-lenders. While the State gets a return ontheir investment money, they also fuel the growth of smallbusinesses in New Mexico.

We should not be reluctant to emulate other states’successes. We should look into how business capitalprograms that have benefited other states could benefitDelaware if we adopted something similar here.

Promoting Exports for DelawareCompaniesIf we are smart about it, we can turn some of today’sglobal economic changes into real opportunity. Hundredsof millions of new middle-class families are emergingaround the world. That means Delaware companies cangrow by selling more of their goods and services overseas.

In February 2006, I invited Jim Lambright, president of theU.S. Export-Import Bank, to Delaware to join me, alongwith Judy McKinney-Cherry of the Delaware EconomicDevelopment Office and officials from the World TradeCenter Delaware, to kick off a new partnership betweenour state and the Ex-Im Bank. The bank, which has beenoperating for more than 70 years, is an independent U.S.government agency that helps finance the sale of U.S.exports primarily to emerging markets throughout theworld by providing loans, guarantees and insurance.

Our partnership, which is aimed at helping Delaware

companies expand their exports, represents acommitment on the part of the Ex-Im Bank to promote arange of their products and services. So for example,Delaware exporters can be confident that they will be paidwhen shipping their goods to other countries. This newpartnership represents an important advance in helpingsmall businesses in Delaware become competitive in theglobal economy.

“Small businesses offer the greatest potential forexport and job growth within the U.S. economy. Ourpartners ensure that these small firms have access tothe same expertise and export opportunities as largecompanies and foreign competitors.”

—James H. Lambright, president,Export-Import Bank of the United States, 200641

An important role of the governor is to seek out and openup markets for trade. This effort has to be a partnershipwith the business community, which can help identifyopportunities abroad and lead to the development of trademissions, bilateral trade agreements and other business-specific relationships.

But Delaware should be doing much more to broaden itsappeal internationally. In addition, to plant other seeds offuture economic opportunity, the state should build on our“sister state” relationships with cities and state-likesubdivisions of other countries. We should be developinggrant programs for our universities and even communitygroups to create different forums for international activityand interaction, ranging from the recruitment of studentsfrom abroad to attend our colleges to sending Delawareperforming arts groups abroad. Some of these talentedstudents might decide to stay in Delaware and do greatthings. But even if they return to their home countries, theymay start up their own companies and becomeentrepreneurs and be more favorably inclined to dobusiness in Delaware. And we should market Delaware as atourist destination for international visitors – a gorgeousplace to visit and relax.


• Playing to Delaware’s many strengths, not only asa favorable place to incorporate and do business,but building on the wide varieties of industries,facilities, and areas of expertise that are foundhere, from financial services to biotech toagriculture to manufacturing.

In addition, there are a few other things Delaware shoulddo to improve its business climate. First, it should re-examine its business tax incentives to be sure that they aredoing what they are intended to do – attract, support, andretain the kinds of businesses and industries that willenable the state’s economy to grow and prosper. I am lessinterested in tax incentives that just give away the store inorder to attract any business to Delaware. In my view, thatsimply puts Delaware in a race to the bottom with otherstates. If we have done everything possible to develop aneducated and skilled workforce, enhance our quality oflife, and build upon our strengths, businesses will come toDelaware, create jobs and stay here.

But there are certain business activities we shouldencourage, and tax incentive programs should be gearedto do just that. Obviously, we want businesses to createjobs. But I do not think we should reward businesses forcreating jobs they would have created anyway. Instead,our job creation incentives need to focus on creating jobswith above average wages in any given industry sector,jobs with employee benefits and jobs in industries that willgrow our future economy. Similarly, we should provideincentives that encourage business investment in researchand development, in part because they lead to thecreation of higher wage, higher skilled jobs, but also inpart because research and development usually is theprecursor to business growth.

Second, where the state does step in and provideincentives, there should be mechanisms in place toensure that the promised outcomes occur, whether it isthe creation of good jobs, investments in research anddevelopment, redevelopment of brownfields, or whateverthe focus of the incentive is. And in those instances wherethe results did not pan out, there should be clawbacks andother mechanisms that can be used to hold corporationsaccountable and require them to return Delaware’sinvestment.

Third, we need to be sure that the state’s economicdevelopment agencies are best organized to identifyeconomic opportunities and challenges and make iteasier to assist Delaware businesses. Delaware’seconomic development officials should not only haveaccess to real-time databases of available land andfacilities for business attraction or expansion, informationregarding all available financing and incentive programs,and workforce development programs, but they shouldalso be thoroughly up to date with respect to thecompetitive offerings of other states. And Delawareshould establish early warning systems to ensure that wecan identify businesses that might be heading for financialtrouble or may consider leaving the state long beforethose things occur.

Finally, the state needs to be aggressive about makinginvestments in the kinds of infrastructure that may helpattract and retain businesses — from broadband andtelecommunications to water and energy to efficienttransportation arteries which help move goods andservices to market. With each of these, the state needs towork closely with the county and municipal governmentsthroughout Delaware to prioritize needs and funding.

Even as workers around the globe aspire to our jobs, evenas governments in other states and countries try toconvince our companies to relocate, even as our ownemployers struggle with managing costs in a hyper-competitive business environment, Delaware can thrive.We have what it takes — a great workforce, improvingschools, a community-minded spirit, and a terrific historyof public-private partnerships. Those all represent a greatfoundation on which to build.

Now is not the time to relax and take our eyes off the ball.In fact, now is the time to recommit ourselves to investingin our future — in innovative education and economicdevelopment — for our own sake and for the generationsof Delawareans who will follow.

Given our strength in biotech, it seems only logical that ourrich agricultural heritage and our regional expertise shoulddovetail. An example of the kind of business synergy I’mthinking of is Pioneer Hi-Bred. The company was foundedin Iowa in 1926 to meet a need that arose in the cornfieldsof that state — the challenge of producing disease-resistantcorn in order to increase the crop’s annual yield.Determined to create a hybrid seed, founder Henry Wallaceand his associates planted small plots again and again,tested and retested their results, and convinced thousandsof farmers to try something new. The company was sosuccessful that it caught the eye of DuPont, which acquiredit in 1999.

What made Pioneer so successful? For one thing, it hasalways had a philosophy of responding to change inmarkets and taking what it calls “the long look.”48 OnePioneer leader attributes its success to its proximity to greatresearch resources in Iowa, along with the market for cornproducts and the labs for testing. In his view, Delaware hasmany of the components necessary to achieve similaragricultural/biotech success.

There are several ways we can capitalize on our strongheritage in agriculture to promote economic growth anddevelopment. Pioneer provides one. Iowa’s investment inbio-based fuels offers another. Although ethanolproduction may not be a wise investment here – while itwould increase the demand and price of home-grown corn,it also likely would divert corn from our poultry industryand drive up industry costs – there are likely ampleopportunities in other areas. And in Delaware, the work ofseveral local companies and institutions representinnovative approaches to applying plant science technologyto research and development in lieu of developingproducts in much more expensive laboratories.

Also, we could diversify some of our agriculturalproduction towards specialty niche markets that aregrowing increasingly popular among consumers. Forexample, organic produce no longer is confined toweekend farmer’s markets and expensive health foodstores. Nowadays, most supermarket chains includeorganic produce and products as part of their regularofferings. And if anything, as New Castle County’s newinitiative suggests, we should be linking farmers providingthe healthiest, freshest produce with our school districts,

which not only gives farmers a large, ongoing market fortheir produce but obviously benefits the children whoconsume it.

If it can be grown or raised, Delaware farmers can do itwith the best in the country. The state simply has to listento the agricultural community, support its efforts to takeadvantage of these opportunities as they emerge and helpdevelop and market the Delaware agricultural brand.

Finally, with respect to our rural economic developmentstrategy, we can learn from what other states have done toattract high-tech businesses to remote areas with a greatquality of life. Thirty years ago, when the nation’s focuswas on growing our industrial base, rural economicdevelopment policy was geared toward creatinginfrastructure that would provide utilities, water, androads to attract large facilities. In the 21st century theinfrastructure most important for a rural area to becompetitive is broadband capacity.

Making our Economic DevelopmentSystem Work for DelawareI firmly believe, not just as a former businessman but assomeone who oversees the state treasury, that the stateshould not be in the business of betting on the next greatindustry. Instead, the state’s economic developmentstrategies most certainly should focus on creating the typeof business climate that good employers want. In myexperience and in listening to what business leaders tellme they are seeking, a healthy business climate includes:

• Creating an educated, skilled workforce. Thestate should be investing in order to intensify ourefforts to make our schools world-class as well asin programs that help current workers receivetraining in the skills and knowledge thatemployers desire most;

• Enhancing our superb quality of life to furtherattract educated, skilled employees and thebusinesses that seek them. The state should investin programs and policies that protect our naturalresources, strengthen our local communities,develop arts and culture, highlight our lifestyle,and provide ample opportunities for professional,social, and personal enrichment and enjoyment;


In looking at Delaware’s crime levels over the past 40years, in general there are lots of good things to report.The overall rate of property crime in Delaware hasdropped in all but one year since 1998 and is at thelowest levels experienced since the late 1960s. Ourproperty crime rate is about half the rate of propertycrime rates experienced in 1980, when propertycrimes generally peaked in the United States.

What is not good these days is the rate of violent crimein Delaware. Although the violent crime rate is 17.1percent lower than the highest annual rate of violencerecorded in Delaware (1998), this rate is still muchhigher than it was prior to 1990, when the annual rateof violent crime ranged from 430 to 560 violent crimesper 100,000 people. But since 1990 the rate of violentcrime has never fallen below 600 violent crimes per100,000 people. I think this is simply not acceptable.

In short, for the public to feel safer, we must continueto do everything possible to continue to maintainreductions in property crimes, but we must getsmarter and more proactive about how we addressviolent crimes.

More Law Enforcement vs. More SocialServices: We shouldn’t have to choose For decades, there have been two primary schools ofthought about the most effective way to fight crime.

Some experts contend that the most effective way to fightcrime is to crack down on criminals and crime itself. Thefocus of this approach is to provide more police, bettercrime-fighting technology and tools, and toughersentences to take criminals off the street for longerdurations and deter would-be criminals from criminalbehavior.

Other experts view crime as the end result of failed socialpolicies, poor education, poverty, inadequate supportservices, and racial prejudice. As such, a society cannot jailitself out of crime problems. These experts argue that tomake meaningful in-roads into stopping crime andviolence, government and the community should investmore in the education of children, job training skills foryoung adults, and programs to eliminate or minimize the

harms caused by poverty and prejudice.

Great wisdom can be found in both approaches, butneither, tried to the exclusion of the other, is going to beparticularly successful for long. In addition, crime andcriminals evolve and adapt, and no one strategy is going towork well indefinitely. Further, both approaches tend todownplay personal responsibility for one’s own behavior.The law enforcement-dominated approach presumes thatpeople will fail and stands ready to pounce and put theminto the system. By the same token, the “root causes”approach all but suggests that society is to blame for agiven individual’s failure to abide by the law.

An effective crime strategy for Delaware should involveall of these elements, and some new, creative thinking.Our state must start with good, tough law enforcementthat can and will protect the safety and property of allDelawareans. At times this can mean more lawenforcement personnel. Given the gutting of thesuccessful Federal COPS program, which helped putwell over 100,000 more police officers onto Americanstreets during the 1990s, more officers are needed. Butmore often than not, it means smarter law enforcement— that is deploying officers in a targeted manner toidentify and apprehend those criminals who are causingthe most crime.

Our law enforcement officers must be backed up by acriminal justice system that works effectively. If jails do nothave enough space and arrestees cycle immediately backonto the street, this undermines the work of lawenforcement. If sentences are not harsh enough, or areconsistently plea bargained down to lesser offenses,offenders will be quickly released and likely to commitcrimes again. And if resources are insufficient to addresssome of the root problems that underlie certain criminalbehavior — alcohol and drug addiction, a lack of job skillsor employment opportunity — the chances that anoffender will return to doing what he knows — crime —is higher.

Law enforcement and the criminal justice system cannotfix all of the serious problems of society and individuals.They are a last ditch effort to control behavior and protectothers. Furthermore, the “system” is costly. But thetaxpayers of our state will be better off and will save money

Enhancing Delaware’s Safetyand SecurityWhen compared to other states or the nation as a whole,Delaware’s crime statistics paint two different pictures. Onthe one hand, we have less property crime than the rest ofthe country and other states in our region. But sadly, we alsohave higher rates of violent crime than the rest of the country.

While a low property crime rate is something to feel goodabout, it does not mean an absence of crime, and it is noconsolation to those who are victimized by crime. Violentcrime is one of the most pressing concerns of any society,and certainly violence against another person nevershould be condoned or tolerated.

One of the most fundamental responsibilities ofgovernment is to protect the safety and security of itscitizens. As governor, I will work tirelessly to do so and willmake combating crimes of all sorts a priority. Here is how:

Where We AreThe actual number of crimes in Delaware seems lowbecause our population is smaller than most states. But ifyou stack our rate of crime per 100,000 residents upagainst the crime rates found in the U.S. as a whole orother states in our region, it becomes clear that certainserious crimes jump out as particular problems inDelaware and must be addressed.

Our property crime rates in 2005 were lower than both the national and regional average in all categories. Our murder ratealso was lower than both the national and regional averages. But for all other violent crimes, including rape, aggravatedassaults, and overall levels of violence, our crime rate exceeded both the regional and national averages.


where the officer was employed. Similarly, the state wouldpay 80 percent of the salary of a new civilian hire for twoyears, if that hiring directly led to returning a sworn officerto patrol duty. In addition, the state would provide up to$10,000 per year to help train and equip the officer.

Sheer numbers of officers are just one part of theequation. I will also see to it that Delaware invests insmarter law enforcement by:

• Partnering with local law enforcement. Thestate can provide grants to help local lawenforcement agencies beef up their intelligencegathering capabilities, which in turn can helpfocus police resources where they need to be.The state can help local agencies obtain newcrime-fighting technologies and train them intheir use. True problem-solving policing needs tohave the right data and information to correctlyidentify crime problems in as close to real time aspossible and to help pinpoint police strategies tosolve them. This is the basic approach used by themost successful law enforcement agencies in thecountry, such as the New York City PoliceDepartment, which has produced an incrediblysustained reduction in that city’s crime, violence,and disorder during the last 15 years. Effectiveproblem-solving law enforcement agencies do notfocus on any particular traditional benchmark,such as arrests, but rather on answering the mostrelevant question of all: “Have we solved theproblem?”

• Funding coordinated training andassistance programs to help establish localcommunity crime-fighting councils. The councilswould bring together local health departments,housing and zoning agencies, public worksdepartments, and other local agencies to workwith police departments to address particularproblems. With this knowledge, law enforcementagencies can target and close down criminal hotspots using civil and criminal sanctions, assistedby the resources and expertise of the task forcemembers.

• Establishing a specially-trained State PoliceTask Force unit of experienced state officerswho will be available to serve, upon request, incoordination with local police departments. TheDelaware State Police may have the expertise orthe resources that may not be available to localjurisdictions, in such areas as gang violence, carthefts, and gun crimes. These officers will beavailable to assist local departments to addressparticular crime problems that temporarilyoverwhelm local agencies and resources. TheDelaware State Police also has a highly specializedhigh-tech crimes unit that can assist local lawenforcement in addressing the complex and evergrowing world of cyber-crimes, including internetchild predators and a unit that targets careercriminals.

Keeping Children and Families SafeNothing is more important to me than being a goodhusband and a good father. And being a good husbandand father means looking out for the safety and wellbeingof my family. I want to be sure that the state is doingeverything possible to keep children and families safe.Here are some things that we can and must do.

Domestic Violence. According to the State Bureau of Identification there were16,310 criminal instances of domestic violence inDelaware in 2006, about 250 more than 2005. This is thefirst time incidents have increased since 2001—we aremoving in the wrong direction. About 15 percent, or2,509, of these incidents in 2006 resulted in injury. FamilyCourt issued 1,711 Final Protection from Abuse orders,while the statewide domestic violence hotline receivedalmost 3,100 calls in 2006. Crime victim advocatesthroughout the state helped nearly 1,500 domesticviolence victims navigate their way through the criminaljustice system. And 581 women and children receivedshelter services in 200650.

We must remember that behind these statistics — behindeach and every number — are real people, mostly womenand children, who have been impacted by violence, abuse,

if more people are educated, learn job skills, have theopportunity to work, use less alcohol and other drugs,and develop a sense of personal responsibility andattachment to their families, friends, and communities.

What follows are my ideas to improve public safety. Butthese ideas only deal with part of the problem. In somerespects, much of the rest of this book, offering ideas tocreate jobs and opportunity, improve education andenhance the quality of life in our communities, is asimportant to ensuring public safety as the ideas that followhere. So where do we begin?

First Things First: Developing aComprehensive Statewide PublicSafety PlanDespite all of the public’s concern about public safety,state government agencies are not necessarily required towork together according to any agreed upon plan orstrategy. Without basic goals or objectives or a plan foraccomplishing them, it is difficult to get things done. As afirst order of business, I would instruct my trained lawenforcement professionals to develop a comprehensivestate criminal justice plan. This plan would:

• Include up-to-date statistics regarding crime inDelaware;

• Establish annual goals and objectives;

• Provide a plan for sharing resources anddeveloping partnerships to achieve those goalsand objectives.

For example, if the goal for a coming year were to reduceincidents of domestic violence by 5 percent, the planmight include commitments from the State Police, locallaw enforcement departments, state-funded victim serviceprograms, the courts, the Department of Correction andthe state probation program to fund and implement jointprograms that target repeat offenders and assist victims, aswell as outreach programs to educate at-risk individuals.

Similarly, a goal of reducing prescription drug abuseamong school-aged teens by 10 percent could lead topartnerships among law enforcement, the Board ofPharmacy, and the Department of Education to develop

and fund education, outreach and treatment programs tohelp meet that goal.

Establish a Delaware COPS ProgramNearly 10 percent of Delaware’s law enforcement officers— about 220 — were hired as the result of increasedfederal funding from Sen. Joe Biden’s revolutionary 1994Crime Bill, which established the Community OrientedPolicing Services (COPS) program49, putting more than100,000 police officers on streets nationwide. An October2005 General Accountability Office study attributed a 10percent decline in America’s crime rate during the 1990sto the hiring and deployment of these additional policeofficers. Clearly this program was working.

But during the Bush administration, federal funding oflocal law enforcement has been cut by about $2 billion. Atthe same time, more federal FBI and DEA agents havebeen taken off traditional crime-fighting responsibilitiesand re-assigned to terrorism-related duties. Thereforestate and local law enforcement has to try to pick up theslack. And our local law enforcement officers now haveincreased homeland security responsibilities as well.

Given federal deficits and the costs of the ongoing war inIraq, it seems unlikely that the federal government isgoing to come up with significant funding for local lawenforcement in the near future. But I do not thinkDelaware can or should wait around for federal help. Norcan we continue to expect significantly better public safetyresults from our law enforcement agencies without givingthem the proper support. As governor, working inconsultation with the Delaware Police Chiefs Council andthe League of Local Governments, I would establish aDelaware COPS grant program to help fund the hiring andequipping of 200 new police officers over a four-yearperiod. These funds would give local police departmentsflexibility to staff up as they deem appropriate, either byhiring new police officers or by hiring civilians who canrelieve sworn officers of administrative duties so that theycan be redeployed to much-needed crime-fightingresponsibilities.

Under this program, the state would pay 80 percent of thesalary of a new police officer for two years, the remaining20 percent of which would be matched by the city or town


Crime victims should also have an advocate in stategovernment, a “one-stop shop” for victims’ rights andservices. Although crime victim assistance programs arefunded through the Delaware Criminal Justice Council,this agency provides few direct services to crime victims.Meanwhile, the state’s victim compensation programoperates in an entirely different branch of government —the judiciary — while the Attorney General’s Office, anumber of law enforcement agencies, courts, andcorrectional agencies operate victim-witness programs.Just as the federal government and numerous other stateshave done, I would seek to develop a Delaware Officefor Victims of Crime. This centralized office not onlywould be responsible for the administration of state victimassistance and victim compensation funding and violenceagainst women grant funds, it also would develop policiesand programs to aid crime victims and support the workof victim advocates throughout the state.

Both of these measures — stronger victims’ rights and thecreation of a crime victims’ office — combined with betterefforts to reduce crime and victimization, will helpDelaware have a criminal justice system that is fairer, morebalanced, and able to improve services to crime victims.

Reducing Gun Violence Any death due to gun violence is tragic, but it is even morehorrific when children are involved. Anything we do tolimit the access to weapons from the people we alreadyknow should not have them is a no-brainer. It makes ourkids safer, it makes our schools and colleges safer, and itmakes our streets safer. Delaware can do more to preventgun violence, and as governor, I will make sure we do allwe can to keep guns out of the hands of peopleprohibited from owning weapons.

Some of the things that my administration will do tocombat gun violence are:

• Improving Delaware’s reporting to the NationalInstant Criminal Background Check system. Foralmost 40 years, federal law has banned “mentallyill” individuals from owning firearms, but manystates, including Delaware, have provided little orno information to the database. This is extremelytroubling — and is something I would quickly

rectify as governor — because this is the databaselicensed gun dealers use when conductingbackground checks. Had Virginia properlyreported its information, the deranged gunmanat Virginia Tech would not have been able tolegally purchase the two handguns he used in hismassacre. As governor, I will make it a priority toturn Delaware into a national leader in reportinginformation to this system. It is important to notethat increasing Delaware’s reporting will notharm law-abiding citizens who are eligible to ownweapons. Improvement will only ensure weaponsare kept out of dangerous hands.

• Utilizing gunshot detection technology to helppolice quickly catch criminals. Technology, such asShotStopper, uses sensors to send immediatesignals to a city’s police department when shots arefired. The technology can detect shots fired up totwo miles away and can pinpoint the gunman’slocation to within a few feet. A growing number ofjurisdictions, including Washington, D.C. and PrinceGeorge’s County, Md., have implemented thissystem and used it to quickly arrest individualslinked to shootings. I will help the City ofWilmington obtain funding for this important crime-fighting technology.

Increasing Access to Drug Treatment In FY 2005, Delaware’s Division of Substance Abuse andMental Health funded 8,480 admissions to treatmentprograms throughout the state, down from nearly 8,900admissions to treatment in FY 2004. By far, the drugs forwhich treatment has been sought most are alcohol andheroin, with alcohol comprising up to one-third oftreatment admissions while heroin made up slightly morethan one-quarter of all treatment admissions.

Unfortunately, existing drug treatment services only reacha fraction of those who actually need help controlling theiraddictions. According to estimates from the 2003-2004National Surveys on Drug Use and Health that werereleased last year, approximately 18,000 Delawareans(more than 2.6 percent of the entire state population)reported needing but not receiving treatment for illicitdrug use during the previous year.

and fear. Delaware has a good network of servicesavailable for victims of domestic violence. It has stronglaws in place to punish offenders. But there is more thatwe can do.

• First, the state must continuously reinforce themessage that family violence is never acceptableand will not be tolerated in our state. Every stateagency has a role to play in getting that messageout. The state can include information ondomestic violence, resources for victims, and putthe statewide domestic violence hotline numberon state websites, on lottery tickets, innewsletters, even in mailings from theDepartment of Motor Vehicles, among otherplaces.

• Second, in order to give victims more peace of mindand to remind perpetrators how serious Delaware isabout protecting victims, the duration of a long-termorder of protection from abuse should be extendedfrom one year to two years, and victims should beallowed to renew those orders on an annual basisafter that if they choose.

• Third, the state must continue to support efforts tocross-train law enforcement and other alliedprofessionals about family violence — what to look for,how to help victims, and where to refer them for otherneeded services. Our state has made great strides inthis area through the work of the Domestic ViolenceCoordinating Council, but more can and should bedone. So many professionals come into contact withfamily violence victims, often unknowingly — doctors,nurses, dentists, teachers, attorneys, mental healthprofessionals and clergy, to name just a few. The morewe can do to reach out to and train allied professionals,the better the chance that we can intervene in thecycle of violence and stop it.

Curbing Driving Under the Influence More than 40 percent of the fatalities in Delaware motorvehicle accidents in 2007 involved alcohol (51 alcohol-related fatalities out of 118 traffic deaths).51 Lest anyonethink that driving under the influence is not that big of adeal, the number of alcohol-related driving deaths nearly

doubled the number of people murdered in Delaware(37) in 2005. We can do much more to strengthen ourdrunk driving laws to reduce those numbers. Forexample, Delaware should:

• Prohibit plea bargaining or reducing an alcohol-related offense to a non-alcohol related offense.At least 33 other states have enacted this sort oflaw.

• Lower the Blood Alcohol Concentration levels forrepeat offenders. Offenders who have had one ormore prior DUI/DWI convictions should not beallowed to get behind the wheel if their BACexceeds half the legal limit, or .04. Prior offenderswho are caught driving with a BAC that exceeds.04 should be subject to a range of sanctions,including license revocation, vehicle sanctions,fines, and/or imprisonment.

• Require mandatory BAC testing for driversinvolved in fatal crashes. Delaware is one of only14 states that does not require this testing.

• Seize the vehicle of a driver convicted of three ormore incidents of drunk driving.

Any or all of these measures could change alcoholics’ livesby enabling them to get help and save the lives ofcountless innocent victims of drunk-driving crashes.

A Delaware Office for Victims of Crime:Protecting the Rights of Crime VictimsAs governor, I will work to enhance the rights of crimevictims. I will ensure that the Victims’ Bill of Rights isenforced and available to every victim in Delaware andprovides real rights and remedies for victims. Mostimportantly, we should protect the rights of a crime victimto be notified of and present at all critical stages of thecriminal justice process, the right to confer withprosecutors prior to the disposition of a case, the right toprovide a victim impact statement at sentencing, the rightto receive victim compensation and restitution, and anability to enforce their rights if violated. I will increaseawareness efforts to make sure that victims have theopportunity to seek the compensation they deserve fromthe Violent Crimes Compensation Board.


successfully completed their treatment requirements.As governor, I will make three investments in thiscritical area:

• I will work to find resources to increase drugassessments at the time of arrest, not just afterconviction and incarceration, because the soonerwe can identify alcohol and other drug-addictedoffenders and direct them to appropriatetreatment programs, the better the chance thatwe can reduce the offender’s drug-relatedcriminal behavior.

• I will ensure that the Department of Correction’sthree-part drug treatment program — the KEYprogram, a prison-based therapeutic community;the CREST program, which provides ongoingresidential treatment and transitional services;and an after-care treatment and monitoringcomponent that includes group counseling, drugtesting, and other services — is available torehabilitate more offenders. This approach hasproven to be a cost-effective investment inreducing crime. A University of Delaware study ofthe DOC's drug treatment continuum found thatof those completing the three programs, 76percent remained drug-free and 71 percentremained arrest-free after 18 months. Bycomparison, among a control group that did notreceive the continuum treatment services, only19 percent remained drug-free and 30 percentwere arrest-free after 18 months. Increasing theDepartment of Correction’s alcohol and drugtreatment budget by 50 percent ($2.25 million)would pay for these expanded services. Thiswould represent an increase of less than 1percent of the department’s overall General Fundannual budget. But the potential payoff, asmeasured by reduced crime, recidivism, andincarceration costs, could provide significantpayback to the taxpayers of Delaware. For everyoffender who does not re-enter the system, theState would save $24,000 per year inincarceration costs. As the statistics above show,this could result in thousands of inmates notgoing back to prison and savings of millions ofdollars.

• I will work with Delaware’s drug courts to assesswhether additional resources could expandtreatment services and other oversight andmonitoring to a greater number of offenders. Ifmore funding, increased staffing, or other stateresources could enable these courts to divert moreoffenders into appropriate treatment andmonitoring programs and produce better outcomesthan simply sending them to prison, I will find thefunds to expand these court services, up to anadditional $1 million annually.

Reaching High-Risk YouthDelaware funds literally hundreds of programs to helpyouth and provide youth services, but does not have anoverall strategy that focuses the state’s policies, funding,and programs on successful outcomes. Delaware’ssignificant investment in our children and youth shouldmake strategic sense and improve their opportunities.Consistent with best practices and research on theeffectiveness of youth intervention, crime prevention andcrime reduction programs, I want to create a systemwhere the state’s education, children, youth, and familiesprograms, workforce development, and law enforcementagencies will work together to develop a comprehensiveyouth funding strategy. This strategy should address thecontinuum of youth issues and needs, from schoolperformance to after-school activities to skillsdevelopment to recreation. In particular, we must be surethat the state relies upon the best research and fundsprograms with a proven track record of effectiveness.

Schools should be encouraged to teach anti-violence lifeskills, especially conflict resolution. While it is importantthat schools provide the kinds of education and trainingthat will enable them to become productive, successfuladults, it is also important that young people be equippedwith skills and information that will help them navigatepotentially explosive situations and people. Schools canbe an outstanding and safe forum in which those sorts ofskills can be discussed, practiced and learned.

I also want to ensure that state law enforcement agenciesrigorously analyze juvenile arrest data. It is important todistinguish between juveniles who make bad, isolateddecisions and get in trouble versus those who are on their

It will be difficult to make significant headway againstcrime, family violence, driving under the influence, and ahost of other social problems unless we can get morealcoholics and other addicts into programs that help themsober up and treat their addictions. But we are onlymaking a false promise to addicts if we encourage them toget help but there are not sufficient residential oroutpatient treatment slots and other resources available.

Delaware can take pride in being one of the first states inthe country to enact a substance abuse parity law thatrequires health insurance coverage for the disease ofalcoholism and other substance-abuse treatment equalwith the coverage offered for other chronic healthproblems. Now the state can play an important role byfunding an expansion of residential and outpatient alcoholand other drug treatment slots. This fiscal year our state isproviding about $11 million in substance abuse fundingthrough the Division of Substance Abuse and MentalHealth. In order to begin meeting the rest of the state’ssignificant needs in this area, I would increase that budgetby as much as 50 percent, or $5.5 million, over four years,so that existing or new treatment programs could createsufficient treatment slots.

At least 44 drug treatment programs operate in Delaware— 33 outpatient treatment programs and 11 residentialprograms. The state should do a rigorous analysis of thesefacilities’ services, waiting lists and requirements toidentify steps that can be taken to improve drug treatmentin Delaware. For example, despite Delaware’s significantheroin problems only six opium treatment programs areavailable in the state.

In addition, the state could use its existing workforcedevelopment system to build the substance abusetreatment workforce. Just as the state has begun torespond to anticipated shortages in various medical andsocial service professions by developing recruitment,retention, and training strategies, so too can the state helpcreate programs, initiatives, education, and incentives thatcould educate, train, and grow Delaware’s substanceabuse workforce.

Alternatives to SentencingIn essence, prisons are roughly 20 times more costly perperson, per day than regular probation.

Clearly, huge costs are associated with imprisoningoffenders, and those costs are only going to increase asour prisons exceed capacity. But we certainly cannotsimply release offenders just because our prisons are filledand hope that they suddenly turn away from crime andbecome productive model citizens.

The question is how to protect public safety and bestuse tax dollars to ensure the highest levels of safety andthe best outcomes for offenders, 97 percent of whomeventually will be released and returned to ourcommunities.

As with a need for smarter law enforcement, we need asmarter corrections system. We need to pursue workablealternatives to prison sentencing, in part to alleviate prisonovercrowding and the need to build more prisons, butalso in part to produce better outcomes for offenders weneed to rehabilitate. Fortunately, Delaware has a goodtrack record of alternative sentencing and the state shouldbuild upon this experience and these successes.

To begin with, the state should do a vigorous job ofidentifying drug-addicted offenders and channelappropriate offenders into treatment programs. Morethan three-quarters of those who are incarcerated inDelaware have some sort of underlying substanceaddiction. To the extent that Delaware can help interveneand disrupt this cycle of addiction among offenders, thebetter the chance that an offender can turn from criminalbehavior and focus on more positive employment andactivities. The spillover effect will be a better quality of lifefor the offender’s family and less demand on socialservices.

After a successful pilot program, Delaware established thefirst statewide drug courts program in 1997. Our drugcourts operate on two tracks, not only dealing withoffenders who violate terms of probation but also thosearrested for certain drug offenses. Both have beeneffective in diverting offenders into residential andoutpatient treatment programs, and data indicatesmuch lower rates of recidivism among those who have


In Sickness and in Health:Health Care for AllDelawareansOne of the great things about serving in public office isI get to meet the people who benefit from the work Ido. And one of my very proudest stories is Curt Cole.

Curt is a 58-year-old employee of Delaware’sDepartment of Transportation. And about three yearsago, he felt like he might be a bit overweight.

Right around that time, he read about the HealthRewards Initiative I helped create. This programprovided 1,500 state employees with comprehensivephysical assessments, as well as detailed statistics abouthow their health compared with their peers across thecountry and recommendations about how they couldimprove their health.

Part of the assessment was a stress test — and Curtfailed it. He was referred to his cardiologist — and hefailed another stress test.

Curt learned he had severe blockages in his arteriesand was likely just days away from a devastating heartattack. Instead, he had bypass surgery — and today, heis enjoying life with his family. I’m proud to have Curtas a poster child for my work in health care.

Delaware families should not have to wonder whetherthey can afford to visit the doctor if their kids becomesick or injured. Our businesses should not have toworry about losing their company health plan becauseone employee becomes seriously ill. And Delaware’staxpayers should be assured that the money they spendon health care is buying the best possible value.

Unfortunately, Delaware still has a long way to gobefore achieving this ideal. Too many Delaware familiesand businesses are caught in a vicious cycle of risinghealth care costs and loss of coverage. The spiralingcosts of health care threaten the profitability ofcompanies, which have responded by shifting moreand more health care costs to their employees. And therise in health care costs has caused health insurancecarriers to raise premiums, which has priced some

employers and consumers out of the market, adding tothe ranks of the uninsured. As fewer employees receivehealth care coverage through their employers, and asfewer consumers can afford paying for health coverageon their own, the number of those without healthcoverage rises. And as the number of uninsured peopleincreases, the health care system that treats theuninsured absorbs higher levels of uncompensatedcosts, which ultimately are paid by taxpayers or throughincreased costs and premiums paid by those who stillhave health coverage.

Without action, the vicious cycle of rising costs and lessaffordable coverage will continue to threaten thecompetitiveness of Delaware businesses and thefinancial stability of our families. And most importantly,it will keep thousands of Delawareans from enjoyingthe benefits of good health — which is too importantto wait on. It is time to act now.

The Need for Affordable, QualityCoverage for All DelawareansWhy does Delaware need a bold plan of action when itcomes to health care? It comes down to this:

1. Health care costs are threatening to overwhelmfamilies, businesses and state government.

2. Affordable, quality health care is beyond thereach of many Delawareans, with over 100,000having no coverage at all and many more worriedthat a job change or sudden illness could meanlosing coverage or being faced with catastrophicmedical bills. These are hard-working people.Over 80 percent of uninsured Delawareans are inworking families.52 People who work hard and dotheir fair share should not be left wonderingwhether they’ll be able to pay their bills if anillness or accident strikes.

3. We are spending too much at the back end andnot enough on front-end coverage andpreventive care. Delaware should invest the $91million currently spent in our state onuncompensated care into a system of affordable,quality health care for everybody in Delaware.

way to becoming career criminals. More than 7,700juveniles are arrested each year in our state, and every oneof these incidents is an opportunity to intervene in the lifeof that young person. In many instances, with appropriateintervention and follow-up, we can ensure that the youthstays clear of trouble in the future.

But we also must ensure that those juveniles who areresponsible for a disproportionate amount of crimes andviolence are identified and punished. A number of studieshave demonstrated that a small number of offenderscommit a disproportionate amount of serious crime andviolence. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice andDelinquency Prevention, chronic offenders make up lessthan 10 percent of the offender population but committwo-thirds of violent offenses. Other studies have echoedthese findings, ranging from Orange County, California’sProbation Department, which found that 8 percent ofrepeat juvenile offenders committed more than half of therepeat offenses, to an analysis of juvenile homicides inBoston, which found that about a dozen offendersinvolved in those homicides accounted for more than 360arraignments.

By analyzing juvenile arrest data and matching thatinformation with other known risk factors, such as schoolbehavior or performance problems, family problems,substance abuse issues, and delinquency problems(including running away from home, stealing, or ganginvolvement), the state can help identify those who aremost likely to become seriously involved with crime andintervene.

Preparing ex-Offenders for aProductive LifeGiven that 97 percent of offenders eventually will return toour communities, our state can and should do more toprepare these offenders for release and take steps toencourage their successful re-entry back into society. If wefail to do so, we will all pay for it in terms of crime,crowded prisons, and ruined lives.

Similar to drug courts, Delaware has used a casemanagement approach in two pilot court programs tohelp ensure the successful re-entry of an offender fromDelaware’s prisons into their communities, without gaps

in their treatment or supervision. These programsimprove the tracking and supervision of offenders uponrelease, prepare communities to address public safetyconcerns, and provide services that will help offendersreconnect with their families and the community,including employment, counseling, education, physicalhealth, mental health, and other essential services thatsupport successful reintegration.

New Castle County’s re-entry pilot program targets repeatoffenders who have been incarcerated at least one yearand have a community service obligation as a condition oftheir release. Sussex County’s program focuses ondomestic violence offenders who are at risk for re-offending, and also have community service obligations asa condition of their release.

Both court programs partner with the Department ofCorrection and the Treatment Access Services Center ofthe State Department of Health and Social Services, whichsupplies case managers to the court to support theprogram. Re-entry court officials work closely with socialservice advisory and planning bodies, including the stateagency that receives federal criminal justice grantprograms on behalf of the state, to ensure that the re-entry initiatives have access to an array of community-based services.

These re-entry programs should be expanded as part of astatewide re-entry initiative. Every offender should have arelease plan that identifies individual problems, likelydifficulties once released, and state, local, and communityagencies that can help that offender get back on his feet asa productive and self-sufficient member of society. I wantstate agencies working together and coordinating servicesand resources to ensure that this occurs, and would investup to $1 million in additional funds annually to do so.


expensive and least efficient way to deliver care —especially if access to primary care could have preventedthe illness in the first place.

The lack of affordable, quality health coverage for allDelawareans has a profound impact on those withcoverage and on the state’s economy as a whole.63

Hospitals and other health care providers treat somepatients even if they lack health coverage. In Delaware,the cost of health care for the uninsured that was notpaid for out-of-pocket by the uninsured themselvesamounted to over $91 million in 2005.64 Some of thesecosts are paid for by the state and federal governments(that is, by taxpayers), but much of this“uncompensated care” is absorbed by providers such ashospitals and these costs are shifted to privately-insuredindividuals in the form of higher bills — whichultimately translates to higher premiums. In addition tothe tax dollars going to cover uncompensated healthcare, the private coverage “cost shift” added anestimated $724 to Delaware family health insurancepolicies in 2005.65 By 2010, this “hidden” expense ofcaring for the uninsured will cost every Delaware familyan additional $1,083 in insurance costs every year.66

Insuring Delawareans up-front could save Delawarefamilies hundreds of dollars a year, while keeping morepeople out of the hospital.

Having all Delawareans covered is also in our state’seconomic interest. Nationally the lack of health insurancecosts our economy up to $130 billion per year due to lostproductivity.67 Delawareans may be afraid to move to a jobthat suits them better — and where they would be moreproductive — if it does not offer health insurance.Because it is so much harder to obtain insurance in theindividual market than through an employer, the lack ofsecure, affordable, and portable coverage can stifleentrepreneurship. Finally, those Delaware employers whodo offer coverage are forced to compete with those thatdo not. On average, Delaware businesses with fewer than50 employees pay for 87 percent of their employees’health care costs.68 Delaware deserves a conversationabout whether it is time to level the competitive playingfield among businesses.

Finally, we are not paying enough attention to chronicdisease prevention and management — and we should,

because preventable chronic diseases like diabetes, heartdisease and asthma account for over 75 percent ofnational health care spending. Quality, affordable healthcare coverage — along with strong public health measuresto promote healthy lifestyles — will help us move towarda more affordable health care system.

A Bold Vision for DelawareDelaware certainly is not alone in grappling with theseconcerns. Every state has been challenged by these issuesof rising health care costs and insufficient coverage, just asmany businesses have. Clearly, the status quo isunacceptable, but what alternatives do we have?

As it turns out, there are some options. None will be easy,but other states have taken bold steps to address theirhealth coverage problems head-on. With the number ofuninsured Delawareans rising and health care costsimposing an ever-increasing burden on our residents andbusinesses, Delaware is long overdue for some bold andinnovative leadership.

Access to Health Care for All:Guiding Principles In order to control costs and increase coverage, healthcare reform in Delaware ought to meet five basicprinciples:

I. Everyone ultimately should have access toaffordable, quality coverage in Delaware. It is theright thing to do, and it is a long-terminvestment in our people, our businesses, andour future.

II. No one should lose current coverage due to anyreform efforts. But everyone should be able toobtain decent health care coverage at a priceshe or he can afford in partnership withemployers and state government.

III. We must ensure that all children have coverage.

IV. To make health coverage more affordable toemployers, consumers, and the government,health care coverage must emphasize provenpreventive care.

The Rising Cost of Health CareHard-working Delawareans need look no further thantheir own pocketbooks to know that health care costsare rising. Personal health care spending increased 9.8percent a year in Delaware between 1980 and 2004 —faster than the national rate of 8.6 percent a year.53

Personal health care spending accounted for 9.7percent of our annual gross state product in 2004, upfrom 6.8 percent in 1980. And nationally, we spend $2trillion on health care, or roughly $6,700 per person.54

Although no longer increasing at double-digit annualrates as they did in the late 1990s and early this decade,health insurance premiums still increased by 6.6percent nationally in 2005. Some employers — whoare also feeling the burden of increasingly high healthcare costs — have tried to contain their health carecosts by shifting some of those costs to workers. Thistrend has contributed to a rise in consumer out-of-pocket health care spending of 5.8 percent in 2005.55

More consumers are paying higher deductibles andhigher insurance co-payments and are receiving lesscomprehensive coverage of treatments and drugs.

The Lack of Secure, AffordableHealth Care CoverageAs in most states, thousands of Delawareans lack secure,affordable, high-quality health coverage. According tothe Delaware Health Care Commission, an estimated105,000 Delawareans have no health care coverage.56

And although our percentage of uninsured is a littlelower than the national average, it is growing rapidly.Between 2005 and 2006, Delaware’s uninsuredpopulation grew by over 10 percent, from 95,000 to105,000 people.57 And between 2000 and 2005, Delawareexperienced the fourth-highest increase of uninsuredresidents in the country.58

It’s easy to get bogged down in dollar figures andstatistics when one discusses health care and its impacton Delaware’s families. The numbers are important. Butwe must also remember that those without healthcoverage live in uncertainty and fear, knowing that aminor, treatable illness could become a major problem.For them, an accident or a serious disease not only

threatens their physical health, but their financial healthas well.

This problem does not just affect people who areunemployed. Almost three-quarters (74%) of Delaware’suninsured belong to families with at least one full-timeworker.59 Many uninsured Delawareans are not offeredbenefits through their jobs or cannot afford employer-sponsored or individual health coverage. This is despitethe fact that Delaware’s businesses are slightly morelikely to offer health coverage than the national average(61% vs. 56%).60

We’re Not Getting What We Pay ForYou might think that with all these trillions of dollars goingto pay for health care, compensated or uncompensated,at least Delaware and the rest of America would have ahealthier population. Unfortunately, higher health carespending does not inevitably lead to healthier people. TheU.S. spends more money on health care both per person($6,711) and as a percentage of GDP (16 percent) than allother countries,61 but Americans score worse than otherindustrialized nations on important health outcomes likeinfant mortality and life expectancy.62

Why are we paying more for our health care but gettingless in return? Part of the reason for this is that we pay forhealth care very inefficiently. When we pay foruncompensated care for the uninsured in hospitals oremergency rooms, it is the equivalent of paying for a newengine instead of an oil change.

Uninsured Delawareans are less likely to seek necessarymedical care when they need it, leading to thedevelopment of more severe and expensive illnesses,overuse of emergency rooms, decreased productivity, andeven premature death. Even those with coverage maydelay treatment of minor issues in the hopes of avoidingcostlier doctor visits and crowded health facilities. Andthere are other spillover effects. For example, emergencyrooms that are overcrowded due to increasing numbers ofuninsured patients may mean that ambulances get turnedaway and have to spend precious minutes traveling to adifferent hospital. Also, untreated infections may puteverybody at risk, whether or not they have coverage. Inaddition, the hospital emergency department is the most


for nearly 9,300 additional uninsured children inDelaware.75 The estimated state cost to cover theseadditional children would be up to $8 million annually.

Third, I will establish a Diamond State HealthMarketplace for comprehensive, affordable, andportable health insurance. This Marketplace will serve asa private health insurance one-stop shop and will beavailable to all small businesses, sole proprietors,uninsured individuals and families. All Delawareanswho like their current health coverage will have theoption to keep it, but for those who are not satisfied, orthose with no coverage at all, the Marketplace will be asource to purchase affordable coverage. Since theMarketplace will serve as a one-stop shop for healthplans, it will also reduce administrative hassles for smallbusinesses, sole proprietors, and individuals searchingfor health coverage. Furthermore, the Marketplacewould provide an option for purchasing coverage on apre-tax basis for workers in the nearly 40% of businessesthat currently do not offer coverage to their workers.

The framework for the Marketplace will include thefollowing elements:

• Choice of Plans: The Diamond State Marketplace would putchoices of coverage back in the hands ofindividuals, instead of employers choosing asingle health care plan for their workers.Delawareans purchasing coverage through theDiamond State Marketplace would be able tochoose from a range of plans, from basic tocomprehensive. Standards for health care plansoffered through the Marketplace would be set bya Delaware Diamond Board. There would be abenchmark comprehensive plan that would coverprimary, preventive, acute, and hospital care, withan emphasis on preventive care and diseasemanagement. Health care plans would vary in thelevel of benefits offered and out-of-pocket costs.The out-of-pocket costs for the benchmark planwould be capped to ensure affordability anddesigned to encourage smart preventive healthpractices and treatment. The Delaware DiamondBoard, in addition to setting standards for theplans offered through the Marketplace, will obtain

bids from private insurance companies for avariety of other health coverage options to beincluded in the Diamond State Marketplace.

• Pre-tax savings for employers andemployees:

Currently, employed individuals who haveemployer-based coverage are able to purchase thatcoverage on a pre-tax basis. However, thoseDelawareans who work for the nearly 40% ofDelaware businesses that do not provide coverageare left to either be uninsured or buy coverage ontheir own, through the individual market, with after-tax dollars. My plan would require all businesses toset up Section 125 Cafeteria plans for theiremployees, whether or not they contribute topremiums, so that these individuals can purchasecoverage on a pre-tax basis. Massachusetts has usedthis tool to help level the playing field betweenpeople who currently have employer-sponsoredcoverage and those who do not. On average,obtaining coverage on a pre-tax basis through aSection 125 Cafeteria plan can result in tax savingsthat equal up to 40 percent off the cost ofpurchasing health coverage on an after-tax basis.76

• Simplified Payment of Premiums: Premium payments to the Marketplace will be ashared responsibility between businesses,employees and the state. Employers purchasinginsurance for their employees would only have tosend their premium payments to a single entity, theDiamond State Marketplace, which woulddistribute premium dollars among plans chosen byemployees. Workers with multiple jobs would beable to pool contributions from each employer, andwould be responsible for covering a minimumpercentage of the benchmark plan premiumamount, or a higher percentage if they chose amore expensive private plan. The state wouldsubsidize premiums for low-income uninsuredindividuals on a sliding-scale basis. The estimatedcost of subsidizing these premiums would be up to$60 million annually.

• Additional affordability measures: Competition between plans, negotiation by the state

V. To keep health care costs sustainable in thelong run, all Delawareans should takeindividual responsibility for their own health,and the state should work to help people makehealthier choices. Everybody can take simplesteps to achieve a healthier lifestyle, liketurning off the television and going for a walk.

The good news is that Delaware does not have to startfrom scratch in reforming its health care system. We canlearn from other states that have made significantprogress in health care reform. While these reforms maynot be perfect, the question we must ask ourselves iswhether we will continue to accept the status quo orwhether we will work toward a better health care systemfor Delaware.

A Partnership to Cover AllDelawareans Here is how I would propose to reform Delaware’s healthcare system as governor. None of these steps will be easy,but simply tinkering around the edges, or worse — doingnothing — are not responsible or effective options either.

First, we will focus on enrolling Delawareans who arealready eligible for health coverage programs. Anestimated 24 percent of uninsured Delawareans — morethan 25,000 people — already are eligible for coveragethrough Medicaid or the Delaware Healthy ChildrenProgram.69 For example, almost 13,400 uninsuredDelaware children are eligible for Medicaid or theDelaware Healthy Children Program.70

My friend Mark Warner was able to make Virginia anational leader in insuring eligible children in low-incomehouseholds by aggressively reaching out to uninsuredfamilies, making it easier to sign up. We can do the samething here in Delaware. To ensure that these individualsare enrolled and receive health coverage, Delaware willimprove its Medicaid and Delaware Healthy ChildrenProgram outreach by:

• Providing premium assistance to help low-income workers who are eligible for publicprograms to enroll in coverage offered by theiremployers. Compared to enrolling these

individuals directly in Medicaid, this approachcan save the state money. For example, RhodeIsland’s premium assistance program, RIte Share,has saved an estimated $4.7 million since theprogram began, or $1 million in savings for every1,000 people enrolled in the program.71

• Allowing Delaware hospitals to directly enrolleligible newborns and their siblings in Medicaidor the Delaware Healthy Children Program.Nearly half of all births in Delaware are financedby Medicaid (approximately 5,000 births a year),and this requirement could help ensure coverageof thousands more children a year.72

• Allowing schools and preschools obtaining statefunding to screen children for Medicaid orDelaware Healthy Children Program eligibilityand enroll them if applicable.

• Reducing the red tape that needy families mustcontend with to apply for Medicaid or theDelaware Healthy Children Program. Forexample, by allowing presumptive eligibility,which would cover medical care for kids whenthey need it, not months later when theirapplication is complete.73

• Implementing “Express Lane Eligibility,” whichwould facilitate health insurance enrollment forchildren who are already eligible for other typesof public programs, such as food stamps or thefree and reduced school lunch program.74

• The estimated state cost of covering adults in thismanner would be up to $20 million a year, whilethe state costs of enrolling uninsured but eligiblechildren would be up to $13 million.

Second, we will provide all Delaware families with theopportunity to purchase affordable coverage for theirchildren. I will make the state’s health insuranceprogram for children in low-income families — theDelaware Healthy Children Program — available to allchildren with sliding scale premiums based on familyincome. Currently, families of four with incomes underroughly $40,000 are eligible for Delaware HealthyChildren Program health coverage. This proposedchange would provide the opportunity for coverage


Remember, the cost of care for the uninsured in Delawarecame to $91.2 million in 2005 and is predicted to reach anestimated $127.6 million by 2010.81 Taxpayers largely bearthe cost of this care in one form or another, but all toooften this money is spent to treat expensive illnesses thatcould have been prevented by better access to health carein the first place. But by investing about the same amount— up to $111 million — we can provide health insurancecoverage to virtually every Delawarean and in the process,improve the delivery of health care throughout our state.

That is the choice we face. We can continue with the statusquo, which leaves more than 105,000 Delawareanswithout health insurance, costs us $91 million to pay forhealth care for those uninsured people, and only serves todrive up health care costs for those lucky enough to have

it. Or we can work together to change our health caresystem for the better by spending this money more wiselyto extend health insurance to all Delawareans, helpingeverybody to stay healthy, improving our productivity as astate, making Delaware more attractive for investment,and lowering health care costs for those who are alreadyinsured.

How to Pay for These Reforms This effort to reform Delaware’s health care systemrecognizes that all Delawareans — individuals, families,employers and the state government — have aresponsibility to enroll in and pay for health care, and allof us will.

and subsidies for low-income individuals and familieswould help to ensure affordability of coverage in theDiamond State Marketplace. For example,Massachusetts has already been able to use thenegotiating power of the Commonwealth to obtainmore affordable premiums for plans offered throughits connector.77 The Diamond State Marketplacewould provide Delaware with this same negotiatingpower.

Fourth, employers should contribute to the cost ofcoverage for their workers, or pay the public for thecoverage we must pick up for them. Currently, only 61percent of private sector firms in Delaware offer healthinsurance to their employees.78 But everyone inDelaware ought to pay their fair share. Businesses thatprovide health insurance are at a competitivedisadvantage with those that do not help cover theiremployees — and the rest of us pay for this throughtaxes for uncompensated care and higher premiums. Infact on average, Delaware businesses with fewer than 50employees already pay for 87% of their workers’premiums.79

To level the playing field, employers with 10 or moreemployees will be required to pay a fair share fee foreach full-time-equivalent employee who is not coveredthrough the employer or through another insurer.These business health care assessments will be collectedand used to support health coverage offered throughthe Diamond State Health Marketplace. I would seek tophase in the imposition of this fair share fee by requiringit of large employers first — those with 100 full-timeequivalent employees or more — before imposing it onsmaller businesses.

Fifth, Delawareans who can afford coverage will berequired to obtain a minimum level of health insurance.As with other states, a key problem with Delaware’shealth care system is that those with insurance end uppaying the cost of services for the 105,000 who areuninsured, so it is essential that those who can afford todo so pay their fair share as well. Individuals who canafford insurance but do not purchase it in effect aretaxing everybody who is insured. It will be difficult forDelaware to begin to drive down costs until moreDelawareans have a minimum level of coverage.

Finally, to ensure access to and continuity of health carecoverage, I will require insurers to guarantee coveragefor individuals. Delawareans should not ever fear beingunable to get health coverage or to hold on to coveragethat they have. Unfortunately, health insurers inDelaware are allowed to deny coverage to individuals ifthey have been or are currently sick — just when theyneed coverage the most.

To protect the ability of Delawareans to obtain healthinsurance, I will propose legislation that prohibitsinsurers from denying coverage to individuals based onhealth status. That legislation also will place limits on theamount premiums can vary based on health conditionand age. About 20 other states have guaranteed issue forindividuals in some form and Delawareans deserve thesame protections as residents of other states. With anindividual requirement to purchase coverage, insurancecompanies will be protected from having only thesickest individuals purchase coverage — so these tworeforms must be instituted together.

Some will object to requirements that employerscontribute to coverage and individuals purchasecoverage. But here is the way I see it: research showsthat without these requirements, states can at best hopeto cover 20 percent of the uninsured — even withgenerous subsidies to individuals.80 Of course, thatwould be a good start — but it would not be the kind ofbold reform that will truly bring all Delawareans thesecurity of health coverage.

Through the reforms I have just described, we canprovide all Delawareans with the opportunity topurchase more affordable health insurance coverage.Here is how all of these elements would work togetherto cover Delaware’s uninsured, along with theirestimated costs:


has been to the emergency room, or even just switcheddoctors, can imagine how much more efficient health carewould be if medical records could be quickly and securelytransmitted between health care providers. Indeed,electronic medical records and other health informationtechnology, such as electronic reminders about when toget a test, can improve the quality of care, reduce healthcare costs, and even save lives. The Delaware HealthInformation Network is a public-private partnership thataims to “save lives, reduce medical errors and managehealth care costs to bring Delaware's health care systeminto the twenty-first century.”87 As governor, I will make theimplementation of health information technology apriority, to improve health care quality now and for futuregenerations of Delawareans.

Containing Pharmaceutical Costs In 2004, Delaware spent $676 million on prescriptiondrugs.88 While prescription drugs are an essential part ofmodern health care, too many patients are struggling topay for prescription drugs and pharmaceutical spending iseating up a larger and larger share of state and nationalhealth care budgets. States have used the following toolsto reduce spending on prescription drugs and Delawarecan continue to learn from these examples and undertakesimilar efforts:

• Continuing to use the purchasing power ofthe state to negotiate lower drug prices.

Pharmaceutical costs can be reduced by using thepurchasing power of multiple agencies to lowerdrug costs, for example by combining thepurchases of state employee health plans,Medicaid, and corrections departments. Inaddition, public-private partnerships should beexplored such as pooling drug purchases with largeemployers and insurance companies.

• Further exploring opportunities to bettermanage prescriptions. States can save millions of dollars by usingtechnology to manage the use of prescriptions instate health programs. For example, Florida’sMedicaid program provides doctors with handhelddevices that provide them with the real-timemedication history of their patients. This tool has

enabled physicians to make more informedprescribing decisions, resulting in fewer druginteractions, fewer prescriptions written and a nettwo-year savings of $50 million. By ensuring thatDelaware’s health care providers have the tools theyneed to better manage their patients’ prescriptions,our state can improve the quality of care, reduceprescription drug costs and even help avert seriousproblems like prescription drug abuse.

• E-prescribing. Electronic prescribing has the promise to holddown drug costs by as much as $20 to $44 billioneach year nationally by reducing prescribing errorsand helping prevent duplicate prescriptions. Inaddition, e-prescribing could help avert up to twomillion incidents of patient harm from medicationerrors that occur each year in the United States.89 Asgovernor, I will support efforts by Delaware’sphysician community to implement e-prescribing,and will set a goal that all physicians will be using e-prescribing by 2010.

Enacting Common-Sense MedicalMalpractice ReformMedical malpractice lawsuits often arise out of a culture offear and mistrust — and often end without addressingwhat should be a top priority — patient safety and qualityof care. But new, creative solutions for health care reform— solutions that began at the Veteran’s Administrationand are being implemented by hospitals around thecountry — are reducing the need for medical malpracticelawsuits and showing real savings in litigation costs.90 Atone hospital in Minneapolis, medical malpractice lawsuitsdecreased by 50 percent after this program wasimplemented. As governor, I would support theimplementation of these solutions — known broadly asmedical error disclosure programs — in Delaware.

These and other reform initiatives will contribute to ouroverall goals of improving health care coverage, reducingcosts, eliminating health care disparities and improvingquality. In particular, efforts to control health care costswill be key to our success. The primary reason so manyemployers, families, and individuals struggle with health

The federal government, not state taxpayers, is financing alarge portion of reforms in states like Massachusetts andVermont. Delaware should seek comparable funding fromthe federal government. For example, the federalgovernment will match 50 percent of all Medicaidexpenditures paid by the state of Delaware. As governor, Iwill direct state health agencies to seek funding from thefederal government to support these reforms, as otherstates are doing to support theirs. And individuals andbusinesses will be paying into this health care system aswell, through sliding scale fees and assessments.

I also will ensure that state government does its part.Savings that are realized through reductions inuncompensated hospital and health care system costs willbe dedicated to support these health care reforms. We canexamine the potential for increasing taxes on activities thatcontribute to poor health, such as tobacco use. Even withthe recent tax increase, Delaware still will have a lowertobacco tax than some nearby states, such as New Jersey($2.58 per pack) and Pennsylvania ($1.35 per pack).82 Westill rank 21st among states in our tobacco tax.83 Anadditional 50-cent increase in the tobacco tax would raisenearly $38 million in additional revenue, result in over $85million in long-term health care savings, and save 1,200Delaware kids from an early smoking-related death.84

Other Health Care Reform Initiativesto Improve Patient Care, Health CareQuality, and Reduce System CostsIn addition to championing a steady transition of ourhealth care market toward greater access and affordability,as governor I also would push for the following types ofinitiatives to improve the state of health care in Delawareand to reduce overall health care costs.

Focusing on Health Care Educationand Prevention Remarkably, less than 5% of our national health carebudget is spent on prevention efforts.85 Preventableinjuries and diseases are not only a health care problem,but an economic problem as well. As governor, I willintensify efforts to encourage healthy behaviors throughhigh-impact education, awareness, and outreach

campaigns. We should strive to make Delaware one of thenation’s healthiest states, and the only way to do this is toemphasize and encourage healthy living. Some examplesof areas of emphasis will include:

• Curbing Obesity. Obesity has reached epidemic levels nationally andin our state, impacting the lives of adults andchildren everywhere. We must work across allsettings — work, schools, and community — tohelp Delawareans maintain a healthy weight. Asgovernor, I will be committed to building on andstrengthening efforts to curb both childhood andadult obesity in Delaware, for example by usingschool facilities to provide safe indoor and outdoorspace for physical activity during and after schooland encouraging schools to serve healthier meals inschools.

• Promoting Healthy Living throughBusinesses.

Given the amount of time we all spend at work, it is anobvious place to promote healthy living. Businessesacross the country are beginning to recognize thepotential rewards of investing in their workers’ health.For example, each dollar invested in worksite healthpromotion programs can save an average of $3.48 inreduced health care costs and $5.82 in reducedabsenteeism costs.86 (As state treasurer and a memberof the State Employee Benefits Committee, I certainlyknow this to be true. A few years ago, I championed aprogram called “Health Rewards,” which offeredDelaware state government employees comprehensivephysical assessments, detailed statistics about how theirhealth compares with their peers across the countryand recommendations about how they can improvetheir health. This pilot program improved employeehealth and reduced the cost of their health care andreceived an Innovation Reward from the Council ofState Governments in 2004. As governor, I will continueto support efforts to improve worksite wellness.)

Promoting Widespread HealthInformation TechnologyAnybody who has ever had to take an extra medical testbecause their last lab results were not on record, or who


DPAP if they have incomes less than 200% of the FederalPoverty Level, or $1,702 per month. They may also qualifyif they have higher incomes and their prescription costsexceed 40% of their income.100

However, research indicates that many older Delawareansare having trouble affording their prescription drugs, butare not eligible for DPAP assistance under currentguidelines. For example, a Delaware senior who makes$2,553 per month (300% of the Federal Poverty Level)would have to spend a full $1,021 on prescription drugseach month — or 40% of income — in order to qualify forassistance under DPAP.101 This means that DPAP may notbe reaching enough seniors who need help affording theirprescriptions. As governor, I will help make prescriptionsa more affordable part of seniors’ budgets by extendingthe Delaware Prescription Assistance Program to moreseniors and persons with disabilities who are havingtrouble with their prescription drug costs.

Ensuring High-Quality, Safe PatientCare for SeniorsWhile Delaware is fortunate to have many dedicated,caring health care professionals, comparisons ofDelaware’s performance to other states show that ourstate still has some work to do when it comes to creatinga high-quality health care system, especially for seniors.Hospital-acquired infections, medical errors, and otherpoor-quality health care costs our society in terms of liveslost or harmed, and millions of dollars wasted. Becauseseniors are more likely than other age groups to beadmitted to hospitals and nursing homes, they are morelikely to be affected by poor-quality care and are morelikely to benefit from improvements in the quality of care.

For example, while Delaware’s health care system ranks14th overall among states, we rank 31st when it comes toavoidable hospital use and costs. Delaware ranks near orbelow the middle of states on quality measures relevant toseniors, such as preventable hospital admissions forMedicare beneficiaries, percentage of nursing homeresidents with hospital readmission within 30 days, andpercentage of high-risk nursing home residents withpressure sores.102 Improving the quality of care would notonly improve health outcomes and quality of life for

thousands of seniors — it would also save an estimated$23.3 million per year in reduced preventablehospitalizations, readmissions, and hospitalizations ofnursing home residents.103

Other states and studies have made health care qualityimprovements such as reducing hospital-acquiredinfections and medical errors a part of health reforminitiatives. For example, Pennsylvania’s Health Care CostContainment Council, one of the only organizations in thecountry to report on the number and cost of hospital-acquired infections, estimates that these infections cost anextra $2.9 billion in unnecessary hospitalizations and ledto 2,500 deaths in 2005 alone. Although hospital acquiredinfections are not reported in Delaware, reducing theseinfections could yield substantial savings. For example, acollaborative effort between Johns Hopkins University andall of the intensive care units in Michigan to reduce certaintypes of infections saved an estimated 1,500 lives and $175million during an 18-month span.104

To improve the quality of health care for Delaware’sseniors, I will direct Delaware’s health-related agencies tostudy and pursue such strategies as:

• Establishing quality and pay-for-performanceinitiatives in state-funded health programs thatreward quality of care and improved healthoutcomes;

• Creating a Delaware Center for Patient Safety,similar to the New Jersey Quality Institute and theMaryland Patient Safety Center.105 This Centerwould serve as an essential resource to hospitalsin the state by providing technical assistance andopportunities for collaboration among healthcare facilities to implement proven patient safetypractices. For example, representatives frommore than 50 Maryland hospitals that joinedtogether in a Safety Culture Collaborativesucceeded in reducing the rate of bloodstreaminfections in their hospitals by 36 percent in onlyeight months;

• Supporting efforts by hospitals and nursing homesto report infections acquired in their facilities,providing feedback to health care providers on theirperformance and publishing reports to help

care is cost. Unless we do a better job of containing healthcare costs by emphasizing preventive care, eliminatingfraud, and reducing the costs of prescription drugs, all wewill wind up doing through efforts to insure moreDelawareans is shift the responsibility for high health carecosts from one entity, usually businesses or individuals, toanother, most likely state government. Through these andother reform efforts to reduce health care costs whileimproving the quality of health care, we can, and we will,do better than that.

None of these reforms will be easy to accomplish. But thecosts of not trying to change the way our health caresystem operates will far exceed the costs of bold andinnovative leadership. Shouldn’t we strive to do it right?

Golden Years GuaranteeDelaware is home to more than 114,000 adults aged 65and older.91 Older Delawareans are a vibrant part ofDelaware society, contributing to our economy, learningnew skills and hobbies, and enriching our communitieswith countless hours of volunteer work, such asmentoring young Delawareans. But as we age, we all growincreasingly vulnerable to pressures such as the risingcosts of health care, the financial impact of retirement, andthe fear of becoming ill or losing our ability to liveindependently. Indeed, a shocking 11% of Delaware’sseniors — more than 12,000 people — are currently livingin poverty.92

As treasurer, I have taken on initiatives to help Delaware’sseniors improve their financial security. For example, myoffice created a Consumer Tool Chest of financial securitytools for seniors, which the AARP endorsed. The toolchest includes how to create a retirement plan and live offa fixed monthly retirement income, spot hospital billingmistakes and avoid injuries at home.93 We partnered withthe U.S. Department of the Treasury to launch the “GoDirect!” campaign, which helps seniors avoid financialcrimes by direct-depositing their Social Securitypayments.94 And earlier this year, we launched a First StateSaves program to help Delawareans save for retirementand other important needs.95

One of my top priorities as governor will be ensuring thatDelaware’s older residents can afford the health care they

need, live more securely in retirement, and live thehealthy, active and independent lives they want to live.

My Helping Older Delawareans plan will focus on:

• Making Prescription Drugs More Affordable forSeniors

• Ensuring High-Quality, Safe Patient Care for Seniors

• Helping Senior Citizens Live Active Lives

Making Prescription Drugs MoreAffordable for Seniors Prescription drugs are helping seniors maintain their goodhealth and are becoming increasingly important fortreating illnesses including chronic diseases.Unfortunately, the price of prescription drugs hascontinued to rise. And while the new Medicare drugbenefit has helped many seniors afford their prescriptions,seniors can still be financially overwhelmed byprescription drug plan premiums, co-pays, anddeductibles — not to mention the infamous “donut hole,”which in 2008 will mean that seniors with high drugexpenses could end up spending more than $3,200 in thecoverage gap. It is no wonder that many seniors are stillconcerned about how they will afford their prescriptiondrugs.

Affordable prescription drugs are not just a matter ofkeeping family finances secure and maintaining goodhealth. They may also play an important role in reducinghealth disparities. For example, a recent national surveyfound that more than 60% of African-Americans andHispanics are concerned about their ability to pay forprescription medications over the next two years, andnearly 40% had a problem paying for prescribed drugs.96

Unaffordable drugs mean that seniors may delay getting aprescription filled, skip a dose or take less medicine.97

As governor, I will strengthen the Delaware PrescriptionAssistance Program (DPAP), a critical program that helpsfill in the gaps in prescription drug coverage for thousandsof low-income older Delawareans and individuals withdisabilities. DPAP provides up to $3,000 per year inprescription benefits to eligible Delawareans.98 During2006, DPAP provided 139,271 prescriptions toDelawareans.99 Currently, Delawareans are eligible for


patients make decisions on the best place to receivecare; and

• Continuing to implement electronic health recordsand e-prescribing.

Helping Senior Citizens Live ActiveLives Delaware’s seniors are one of our state’s most vibrantresources. Older Delawareans have a wealth of experienceto offer — at work, in the community, and as familymembers and friends. As Delaware’s population ages, ourstate must focus on promoting good health and helpingseniors stay engaged in work, volunteerism, and theactivities they enjoy. It is time to model our state policiesaround a new view of aging — one that recognizes thevitality and experience of older adults and ensures they arefully connected to work and community. As governor, Iwill make sure that Delaware is doing everything possibleas a state to help older workers stay in or re-enter theworkforce through training, incentives to businesses, andother initiatives. I will also ensure that the younger andolder generations are connected through additionalmentorship and volunteer opportunities.

When it comes to seniors’ health and well-being, I alsobelieve that we must help seniors maintain independentlives in their homes and communities as much as possible.Meeting this goal will require Delaware to bring togetherinnovations in such areas as health, transportation,efficient government services, and economicdevelopment. As governor, I will support a coordinated,statewide effort to help seniors lead healthier lifestyles,manage chronic diseases, and make homes andcommunities more livable. As a first step, I will convenestakeholders from the public and private sectors acrossthe state, identify best practices for promoting healthyaging, and coordinate action on those best practices in allsectors — through senior centers, faith-basedorganizations, businesses, and in the clinical setting.

As governor, I will also help seniors who want to maketheir homes more livable by establishing a statewideclearinghouse where seniors and persons with disabilitiescan find information on how to modify their homes forindependent living, and I’ll provide incentives to

developers who incorporate universal design principlesinto new construction. Promoting livable homes andcommunities will help not only seniors, but also othercitizens living with disabilities, including severelywounded veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan,who may need modifications to their housing.106

Delaware’s EducationFuture: World Class PublicSchoolsAs a kid growing up in Newark, my life revolved prettymuch around a three-mile radius from Newark HighSchool. I figured that what I saw most days was basicallywhat the world was all about.

But at the age of 17, I went on a trip with my parents,including a few days in India. And amidst the poverty andmisery I experienced there, all of the things I wasotherwise thinking about – the prom and calculus toname a couple – kind of melted away. I had a new senseof the world around me and I returned home in time forgraduation and spoke about what I had seen.

At that time – 1978 – a strong public education was one ofthe biggest differentiators between our nations. That isjust not so true anymore.

India learned the value of investments in education. And ifI were to take Molly and Michael on that same trip that Itook with my parents, they would find kids their own agein good schools doing advanced work. Surely they wouldnot find it in every Indian town or village, but they wouldfind it.

It is a new world. It gives us much to think about.

Leading the First State into the 21stCenturyAs a former executive in the technology industry, I havehad a lot of occasion to think about the lessons I learnedon that trip to India long ago, the very different world welive in today, and the importance of education as a way tosucceed in that world. Obviously, from the technologyperspective, improved science and math education mustbe a crucial element in the 21st century.

But I am also convinced that the need for a broadereducation is just as important.

The world has changed for us and for our children and inthe future our children will increasingly have to askthemselves tough questions as they enter the job market.

As Daniel Pink asked in his book A Whole New Mind, “Cansomeone overseas do it cheaper? Can a computer do itfaster? Does what I’m producing meet the needs oftoday’s consumers – who desire ever-more customized,meaningful and well-designed products and services?”107

And, they will need to be equipped with a set of skills thatwill allow them to compete in this environment. What arethese skills? What are the skills of the successful worker ofthe future?

Everybody has a theory about the skills that our childrenmost need to be competitive. And while there is noconsensus, I have developed at least a starting point foridentifying these skills:

• “STEM” (science, technology, engineering andmath) skills

• Thinking skills

• Workplace skills

• Citizenship skills

First of all, economic prosperity is strongly linked toinnovation, especially in science and technology.Content knowledge in math, engineering, physics andcomputer science has fueled high-tech innovation in thepast. Furthermore, in an information economy themajority of jobs – not just those designated high-tech –require some grounding in math and science.Unfortunately, by most measures, American students farepoorly in these areas when compared with their peersaround the developed world. As time goes by, the numberof experts concerned about U.S. students’ lack ofknowledge in these areas continues to grow.

There exist many excellent methods in Delaware andacross the country for improving math and scienceeducation. In fact, our state’s use of the Smithsoniancurriculum is already paying dividends. But let us be veryclear. Even if our students were as expert in math andscience as students in other countries, that would not begood enough, simply because skilled employees in othercountries will work for far less. That is why a focus onmath and science skills alone is insufficient.

Second, the strength of our economy has long beenrooted in our ability to innovate and be creative. While


Public education in Delaware has improved considerablyin the past decade — Delaware is the only state in thecountry that improved student reading and math scoresmore than the national average since 1992, for example—but we have more work to do to live up to our promise.

We have plenty of challenges in formulating a world-classeducational system in Delaware that both produces futureleaders of a civil society and can respond to the demandsof the 21st century:

• Our labor force is not as highly educated as itshould be to respond to our state’s changingeconomic opportunities. The 2007 New EconomyIndex, for example, rates Delaware’s workforceeducation at about average — 20th in thenation.110 Results from the national think-tankAchieve.org also show that Delaware scores justabout at the national average on myriadbenchmarks, from the number of young adultswho receive college-level training to the successof our students on national academic proficiencytests.111

• According to Measuring Up, the national reportcard on higher education, Delaware has an“underperforming” workforce that is on adownward trend. Specifically the report cites ourinability to graduate ninth-graders from highschool on time (in four years), and our stateperformance in this area has “dropped by doubledigits since the early 1990s.” 112 Delawareoutperforms the nation, and even top states, oncertain academic indicators, but high scoresamong white and Asian students inflate thesefigures. Our overall performance is middling,which means that there is a significantachievement gap among students, with Latinosand African Americans faring poorly comparedwith other groups.

• Per pupil spending in Delaware is the eighth-highest in the nation113 but our outcomes mustcontinue to improve. Delaware spends almost asmuch on K-12 education as states like New Jerseyand Massachusetts.114 But these states have muchhigher student achievement and are gettingbetter returns on their educational investments.

New Jersey ranks fourth and Massachusetts fifthon the 2007 Quality Counts “Chance for SuccessIndex” while Delaware ranks 18th.

• The 2006 Education Report Card givesMassachusetts an “A” and New Jersey an “A-,” butgives Delaware a “C” overall.115

• Delaware ranks 27th among the states in thepercentage of eighth-grade students meetingnational standards in reading and mathematics.116

• At the same time, Delaware students improvedtheir scores on National Assessment ofEducational Progress tests in fourth-grade mathat a better rate than students from other statesbetween 1996 and 2007.117

• Similarly, Delaware students made the fifth-highestgain in the nation in Advanced Placement Scoresaccording to a recent report. 118

How will a struggling education system, built in and for adifferent era, rise to meet the extraordinary challenge ofeducating all of Delaware’s students to compete in aglobal job market, to become productive citizens, and tolearn to be lifelong learners?

An Education Policy for the 21stCenturyFor nine years now I have traveled up and down the stateof Delaware, talking with parents, students, teachers andothers who work in our schools to get a sense of theirpriorities.

Unfortunately, Delawareans are not often asked what theywant from their schools. Too often, they feel like they havelittle say. But when asked, they are quite clear.

First they want every child to arrive at school ready tolearn — and that starts with parental involvement: parentsare their children’s first teachers. We need to ensure thatas many parents as possible have the ability — and theopportunity — to fulfill that role and participate positivelyin their child’s educational progress starting from theearliest years and continuing throughout their schooling.Not every parent and child has this opportunity, especiallythose living in poverty. But if our state and our nation are

these skills certainly require a solid foundation in thesubstance of math and science, they also require more,which one can describe as “thinking skills.”

Innovating, creating, designing, initiating, andimplementing require a wide range of skills, in addition tothe science, technology, engineering, and math contentstudents attain in school. At a minimum, students mustlearn how to synthesize, detect patterns and seerelationships among seemingly unrelated items, combineideas to create new ones and challenge assumptions. Thepoint is this: knowing the facts and being purely logicalwill not be nearly enough for many people to besuccessful in this new world. Our students must alsopossess strong thinking skills and the power of creativityin order to yield positive results.

Even with improved STEM content and with high-levelthinking skills, our children would still not be completelyprepared to meet the challenges of today’s economy.According to the Secretary’s Commission on AchievingNecessary Skills (SCANS), students will also need to self-direct their own learning, initiate and persevere,communicate effectively, practice ethical behavior, workindependently and in teams, and be able to work acrosscultural and national borders. Delaware parents andeducators agree that these so-called “soft skills” areincreasingly important. Parents’ frustration withstandardized test scores and No Child Left Behind is aresult of their strong desire to raise healthy, happy kidsand life-long learners who can adapt to difficult situations– and not just good test-takers. That is why soft skills areso important.

Third, our children’s future success depends not justupon their academic proficiency but their ability totranslate that mastery into the workplace. Manysuccessful Delaware workers of the future will berecognized for technical mastery of academic subjects andfor their ability to critically analyze problems — but theyalso will have an understanding of the world at large, andbe proficient in foreign languages. They will be well-educated, empowered, and able to use what they know towork with others in innovating and creating new andbetter services and products. It is this type of worker whowill prosper and who will enable Delaware to continue tothrive, despite the competition of new, educated workers

around the globe. And it is this type of citizen who will beprepared to participate in a functioning democracy.

Finally, we must always remember that our schools mustprepare the next generation to be responsible citizens andadults. Our children do need the skills to compete in aglobal economy, but the manner in which they deploy thatskill depends on their sense of civic responsibility andrespect for others, which are the definition of citizenship.

Policymakers from all parts of the political spectrumrecognize the importance of this goal. On Sept. 5, 2007,Chester Finn and Diane Ravitch wrote in Education Week,“Liberal learning is critical to young people because itprepares them for ‘public life’ — not just politics andgovernment, but civic life in which we should allpartake…For such engagements to succeed, one neednot have a college degree, much less a Ph.D. But it’s closeto essential to have a broad basic education…Once upona time, most U.S. schools sought a balanced education fortheir students…One could fairly say they were beinggroomed for leadership or at least for responsiblecitizenship…Even those not so ‘groomed,’ however, stilllearned the great stories of democracy…And they weretaught that they could, with learning and hard work, riseabove their circumstances. So great are the numbers ofthose who transcended their origins and upbringing thatthe story has a name – the ‘American dream.’ TheAmerican dream has a strong basis in reality.”

This kind of approach is more important today than it hasever been, because the expectations of our young peopleare higher than ever. And that certainly includes the verypractical issue of how we can ensure that the nextgeneration has opportunities bigger than ours.

So how are we doing now? And why is this so important?

In the 21st century economy, greater prosperity for manymeans post-secondary education, be it communitycollege, trade or technical school, four-year college orgraduate level education. In 2004, adults with a bachelor’sdegree earned on average more than $20,000 per yearmore than those with a high school diploma and $30,000more per year than high school dropouts.108 This contrastswith 1979, when a college degree meant only about$5,000 more per year.109


issued by the Rodel Foundation on this topic are sobering:“91 percent of school officials surveyed say that Delawareparents participate in elementary school parent-teacherconferences (90 percent nationally), but only 28 percentreport that parents participate in middle schoolconferences (61 percent nationally).”120

In fact, as I have met with teachers in most of the state’sdistricts, I have heard over and over again how changes inthe culture negatively impact learning. What exactly do Imean?

Teachers tell me about conversations with students thatgo something like this:

Teacher: “I need to see some improvement in yourperformance or I’ll need to call your parents.”

Student: “Go ahead and try. See if you can get them onthe phone.”

I also heard about conversations like this one:

Teacher calls parent by phone: “Your son, David, ishaving some issues at school that I’d like to talk to youabout.”

Parent: “David is your issue between 8 a.m. and 3p.m.”

There are a number of national initiatives to give parentsthe tools to be more effective participants in schooling,including greatschools.net and Project Appleseed. Wehave a state treasure here at home in the Delaware ParentLeadership Institute (DPLI), which has been recognizednationally for its approach, including by the EducationLeadership Action Network (ELAN).

DPLI is one of the only statewide parental leadershipprograms in the nation — it trains parents to help improvetheir schools in a rigorous 60-hour training session thatbegins each fall. As governor, I will introduce legislation toprovide state matching funds up to $1 million for the DPLIto strengthen its reach. I will follow the recommendationsof Vision 2015 to use those funds to support:

• Offering leadership and advocacy training tofamilies and instituting school-based familyliaisons to strengthen school-family ties; and

• Strengthening online tools and outreach

programs to inform parents about their children'sprogress and their school's academic standardsand to help families reinforce classroom learningat home.

We must make the necessary investments to ensure safe,productive schools, particularly at the middle andsecondary school level and this can be done partially byfully engaging parents. We will have parent educationclasses up and down Delaware that teach parents tangibleways to act as stewards for their children’s education.

Eliminating the Achievement Gapand Addressing its Primary Culprit,Children’s Poverty. The educational outcome for many children ispreordained before they even set foot inside a classroom.Poverty has many attendant challenges, includinginadequate health care and nutrition, especially in theearly years when healthy brains undergo their most rapiddevelopment. Another result of poverty can be exposureto violence, which studies show can retard emotional andintellectual development even as it endangers theirphysical wellbeing. Such challenges cause too manychildren to arrive at school unprepared to learn. They alsooften lack other resources, such as parental time andattention or even a safe, quiet place to study. Childrenneed to overcome these initial handicaps and makeprogress throughout their schooling.

This is a tragedy not just for the individual children but forall of us as well, regardless of where we live. Thesechallenges and our failure to address and overcome themaffect not just individual students’ ability to learn, but alsothe ability of the school to teach, and thus it affects allother students in that school and all taxpayers in our state.And ultimately it affects all of us as citizens, as participantsin the global economy and as a society.

David Berliner describes poverty as the 600-pound gorillain the classroom and writes, “We have to face it.” A decadeago, fewer of Delaware’s children lived in poverty thananywhere in the country. Today, we have fallen to 18th inchild poverty, with our present rate at 14.2%, up sharplyeven from the prior year’s 13%.121 African-Americans andHispanics are much more likely than other Delawareans

truly to compete in the 21st century, and be a rich,productive and empowered populace, all children,regardless of their family’s station in life, must come toschool ready to learn. This means that we must invest inearly childhood education to ensure that each and everychild receives adequate attention and mental stimulationduring the years of greatest brain development, the yearsprior to entering grade school. (We also must ensure thatour children’s schools are safe places for teachers to teachand for students to learn. This issue is so important in itsown right that I will be releasing a separate planspecifically addressing my intention that every student inDelaware attend a safe school with proper discipline.)

Second, parents want schools that challenge and interesttheir children and prepare them to compete in a rapidlychanging world economy. That includes not just the broadeducation I discussed earlier — the STEM skills, thinkingskills, workplace skills, and citizenship skills necessary inthe 21st century — but also the special programs that willhelp ensure that every child learns them. This starts withcaring, qualified teachers, and staff for their children. Tomake sure that these teachers are as effective as possible,we must lower student-teacher ratios in the youngestgrades — and we must augment the school-day programwith after-school enrichment programs that are accessiblefor all kids. Even as we improve education across-the-board, some children will come to school with specialneeds and we must do a better job of meeting them withthe best possible special education programs.

Third, they want schools with the resources they need toensure their children have the tools and facilities theyneed to learn. But parents know that resources mustcome with accountability. They want an accountabilitysystem that they can understand and can make clearwhether or not students are achieving at high levels. Moreimportantly, the accountability system must enable bothteachers and students to understand if the appropriateamount of learning is being achieved. Our accountabilitysystem must empower parents by giving them the choicesnecessary to make sure that their children are achievingtheir greatest potential.

Fourth, they want to ensure that their children arelearning the full range of skills necessary to compete in the21st century. Research has shown that kids learn better

when academic material is related to real-worldexperiences — and that preparation for their adult workexperiences needs to start early. It is critical that curriculareflect career opportunities and workforce preparation atleast by high school — for both college-bound youngpeople and those who will go directly into the workforce.We need to build upon our already excellent vocationalworkforce preparation with cutting-edge career &technical programs for those seeking such education inhigh school. And we need to invest in our terrificcommunity college so it can continue to connect grads togood jobs – and help them improve their skills to advancetheir careers.

Finally, parents want their children to be able to go as faras their abilities will take them. In the 21st centuryeconomy, the vast majority of workers will need at leastsome college-level education. Every child should be ableto get that, regardless of family wealth. That is why weneed Early College/Middle College programs, so kids canget a jump-start on the higher education they will need —and to make college more affordable. We need expandedscholarship opportunities, so that every child who can getinto college can afford to go. And we need a state “highereducation strategy” to make sure a world-class collegeeducation is available in Delaware.

In summary, Delaware must insist that every child arrivesat his or her first day of kindergarten ready to learn andevery teenager who graduates from high school and whohas the desire and ability to succeed in college has theopportunity to do so.

We have made much progress in the past fifty years, butwe have still got a long way to go. With the right leadershipand by empowering parents, students, and teachers, wecan get there.

Starting Out on the Right FootIncreasing Parental Engagement.

Delawareans believe strongly that “increasing parentalinvolvement” is one of the foremost solutions to ourpublic education woes119 — and they are right. But at thesame time Delaware lags the nation in parentalengagement, particularly in the formative middle schoolyears. The findings of the Opportunity Knocks report


As governor, I will strengthen efforts to link private pre-school programs with the local districts, so thatcurriculum for 3- and 4-year-olds is tied to what they willbe taught in kindergarten as 5-year-olds. I will alsoestablish a statewide preschool program that puts servicesalready available under one roof. Right now, three stateagencies deal with pre-school programs. I will consolidatethose efforts and make them more efficient. Thisconsolidated system will be of great benefit to families andchildren from birth to kindergarten.

No improvement to the quality of pre-school programswill do any good if the children do not attend. Our pre-school educational programs must be available for farmore students than those at the federal poverty level. I amendorsing, and will push as governor to enact, therecommendation of Vision 2015 to expand pre-kindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds whose families arewithin 200% of poverty. This represents a commitment toour kids of up to $20 million annually.

Many other states are doing this, and it is easy to knowwhy — it works. Since 2005, state funding for pre-kindergarten education has exploded, as more governorsrecognize that it is one of their most important tools forbuilding a better workforce and a stronger economy. As of2005, at least 39 states offered state-funded pre-kindergarten.123 Sixty percent of all 3- and 4-year olds areenrolled in pre-school, up from 6% in 1964. Stateline.orgreports that in 2006 “24 governors — the most ever —proposed boosting pre-school funding this year by a totalof $250 million.”124 This is no surprise. Researchers at theFederal Reserve Bank of Minnesota suggest thatinvestments in early childhood education are among themost effective economic development initiatives a statecan take.125

The Opportunity Knocks study confirms national data that“students… living in poverty perform better in schoolafter quality early care programs than do similaryoungsters who do not participate in early careprograms.”126 But Delaware’s Early Childhood AssistanceProgram, while boosting the achievement of the childrenit does serve,127 does not reach enough of Delaware’schildren.128 For example, in 2005 there were 12,910children between the ages of 3 and 5 in Delaware familiesup to 200% of the federal poverty level, but only 8,337

receive subsidized services of any kind and only 843 werein state-funded pre-K.129

While plenty of kids have access to preschool there isoften a discrepancy in the quality of those programs.That’s why a rating system like the Delaware Starsprogram is so important.130 Moreover, pay and benefits formany of the state’s child care providers are incredibly low,so turnover of staff is very high. This must be changed. Inparticular, state subsidies for care for children from low-income families must be increased and, in particular, tiedto performance on the ratings scale.

Finally, I will propose that the General Assembly increasethe amount of state funding to train highly qualified early-education teachers, including pre-kindergarten teachers.The FY 2008 budget includes $300,000 to enhance careertraining and education opportunities for early childhoodworkers, as outlined in Early Success, Delaware’s earlychildhood plan.

Building on the Basics: MakingSchools Work BetterReducing Student-Teacher Ratios in Early Grades.

According to the University of Delaware EducationResearch and Development Center, Delawareans join amajority of people nationwide in believing that “reducingclass size is the best way to improve K-12 education in theU.S. today.”131 Delaware State Law 1705A already requiresdistricts to limit English, math, science, and social studiesclasses in kindergarten through third grade to 22students.132 The experience of a state like Florida, however,which has instituted sweeping reductions in all publicschool classrooms, shows that one of the biggest hurdlesfor states to reduce student-teacher ratios is findingsufficient numbers of qualified teachers.

I believe that it is important to give very young children asmuch individualized attention as possible, and I agree thatour pre-kindergarten through third-grade classes shouldbe small. But I also credit the research, like the study bythe Program on Education Policy and Governance atHarvard University, that concludes that, above all, we needto “employ… capable teachers.”133

I will ensure that we have highly qualified teachers to staff

to be poor and to drop out of school. We have to doeverything in our power to reduce childhood poverty andits terrible effects on the ability of our children to learn.

Delaware earned high marks in some indicators of the2006 Quality Counts national public education reportcard, but it is criticized for low academic achievementamong minority and low-income students. We caneradicate the achievement gap between racial groups bytaking several important steps. First, we must expandaccess to high-quality early-childhood education, offeringfull-day kindergarten and lowering class sizes inelementary school. Offering additional learning time tothose who need it the most, via after-school enrichment,is also very important. Finally, we must improve andexpand those effective programs aimed at low-performingstudents.122 I plan to employ all of these tactics in tacklingthis difficult problem.

But beyond the specific tactics of how we eliminate theachievement gap, I have a bigger sense of what we mustdo strategically to improve education for those studentsmost in need. And this sense has been developed overmany years visiting successful schools that serve high riskpopulations in and out of Delaware. Some are public andsome are not. But they tend to have three major featuresin common.

First, they have very high expectations of their children.Middle school students know, for example, that they willhave two hours of homework every night — 30 minutesin each of four academic subjects. The slogan in some ofthese schools says it all: “There are no shortcuts; there areno excuses.”

Second, these students often spend more time at schoolthan other students. In some cases, students go home at5 p.m. for dinner and return to school at 7 p.m. for twohours of homework. Along these lines, I believe we shouldtake a very serious look at building an urban boardingschool in Wilmington. The fact is, far too many urban kidsdrop out of school before graduating, setting them on apath to dysfunction and failure. An urban boarding schoolwould be expensive but it may well be worth theinvestment.

Third, the students learn that there is something specialabout their schools. I sometimes ask students, “What’s

different about your school?” And in every school they giveme some variation on the same answer: “This place is morethan a school. It’s more like a family. If something isbothering me, a teacher will stop me as I walk down thehallway, because they can see it in my eyes.”

When students feel cared about by people who believe inthem and expect much of them and who can effectivelyteach them, there is no limit to what they can accomplish.

Ultimately, of course, we will only eliminate thediscrepancies and obstacles that poverty creates for toomany children and young people by eliminating povertyitself. That is a daunting challenge — but one to which Ihave applied myself as treasurer and on which I believe wecan make demonstrable progress if we apply concertedeffort. I want to build on the steps I have taken over thelast decade as treasurer to make our state one of the firstto comprehensively address — and defeat — theproblems of poverty. I have a plan for doing so and will bereleasing that soon as part of my gubernatorial campaign.

Early Childhood Education: All Delaware children should have an equal chance forsuccess in life. Right now they do not. We need toconcentrate more of our public education investments inthe formative years so that our children receive the headstart on learning that stimulates natural confidence,curiosity, and communications skills that they will carrywith them throughout their lifetimes. We must provideour children the same opportunities for prosperity andsecurity as their peers here at home, in other states, andaround the world.

A child’s education begins right away. There is no waitingfor kindergarten. If we wait to begin quality educationuntil a child enters kindergarten, we will have lostprecious time. Business leaders, who are extremelyinterested in having the highest quality education systemin Delaware, strongly support enhancing preschoolprograms in Delaware because of the long-term benefitschildren derive from a strong education at an early age.

Delaware must have a strong pre-school system thathelps ensure that our kids enter kindergarten ready tolearn.


this program: market incentives (attracting teachers tochallenging work environments or hard-to-fill specialties),student growth, knowledge and skills, and professionalevaluations.

The Denver contract, reached after years of careful trialand error, is a delicate balance of many new ideas. Theelement that recognizes student growth does so based ona choice of evaluation tools that is agreed upon by theprofessional educator and her/his principal. Anydisagreement is mediated immediately by a peer teamcomprised of a school administrator and a unionrepresentative. The Denver model also has a dedicatedstream of funding to ensure that the funding necessary toimplement the contract will actually be there.

After-School Enrichment: After-school programs are effective in raising student skillsbecause they feature educational and experientialactivities that are critical for student development. Theseprograms also combine fun with learning and provide theone-on-one instruction and hands-on learning that manychildren need to excel. School facilities are safe indoor andoutdoor venues that can be used for after-school activitiesduring afternoons, evenings, weekends, and vacationperiods. Working with private-sector and communitygroups and using their own facilities as much as possible,schools can create and participate in low-cost after-schooland extramural programs that pique student interest andachievement.

A bounty of public and private resources, including federalgrants, corporate foundations, local companies, andprivate foundations support these programs. In 2007, forexample, Indiana received over $7 million in federal grantfunds to improve academic achievement in math, science,and reading for students from high-poverty schools.

As governor, I will ask the General Assembly to join me inasking for an audit of (1) our existing after-schoolprograms and (2) sources of public and private funds forafter-school enrichment for which Delaware would beeligible. We must better understand how effectively we aretapping into available federal, foundation, and corporatefunding. And we must re-examine our state investments,making sure we support those programs that are meeting

measurable goals, that are used throughout the countryand have a track record of success, and that have a soundbusiness model. Following the audit we will considerappropriate state funding levels for a variety of after-schoolprograms that meet national-best practices, targeting thestate’s investments in those programs that work best andreach those in need.

Creating a First-Rate SpecialEducation System. Throughout Delaware special education is an issuefraught with intense emotion. Parents, teachers and thecommunity at large appropriately emphasize the need tomake sure that all of our children get the tools andresources they need to succeed in school.

From my conversations with parents and professionals,there seems to be agreement on the following points. First,there needs to be additional teacher training for addressingthe needs of special-education students and thetechniques that teachers can use to support studentsbased on their specific diagnoses. In addition, we need toimprove parental training so that parents can provide thenecessary supports at home. Similarly, we should provideadditional technical support in schools (professionals ineducational psychology or with related in-depth training)to provide appropriate support to the classroom teachersand to provide the oversight, training, and follow-up toensure that Individualized Education Plans are beingimplemented successfully.

Let’s face it, children have wildly different learning stylesand many face particular challenges. Providing accuratediagnosis and evaluation, teacher and parent training andsupport, and real-time assessment of progress are the keystructural supports regardless of school or homeenvironment.

As Congress moves forward on whatever formreauthorization of No Child Left Behind takes, the federalgovernment’s policies on special education, which formthe framework for all that states undertake in this area, willnecessarily be reshaped for the 21st century. I willadvocate during this process for the improvementsdiscussed above — and will work with Delaware’scongressional delegation and others at the national level

our smaller classes by creating the “Teaching 21st CenturyLoan Forgiveness Program,” which will re-pay collegeloans for students majoring in designated teachershortage areas. We will conduct an inventory ofanticipated shortages in teacher subject-areas and grades.“Teaching 21st Century” loans will target these need areas,and be re-evaluated every two years. Students selected tothe program would receive loan funds in the form of avoucher, paid each semester, which could be used fortuition, fees, books, and on-campus room and board.Educational institutions would accept the voucher forqualified expenses so that students would not have tofront these costs. For each year of successful teachingservice, we would forgive one year’s stipend.

I am proposing that we dedicate $1.2 million a year to theprogram for the next four years, enough to provide 400loans each year of $3,000 per loan.

Changing the Way We Think About TeacherRecruitment, Training and Compensation.

The single most important factor in determining astudent’s success and which is within the control of aschool is the presence of a caring, effective teacher in theclassroom. Delaware faces a challenge in the next decadeas so many teachers in the “baby-boomer” generationretire. So we have a great opportunity to attract and retainthe next generation of high quality teachers.

I propose we do the following:

• Recruit students with high academic potentialinto teacher preparation programs.

• Offer scholarships (or equivalent) that require aone-for-one year payback for each year ofscholarship once they are employed as teachersin Delaware public schools.

• Create economic incentives for teachers to makelong-term commitments, including additionalsalary stipends and/or contributions to deferredcompensation accounts. These are especiallyimportant in hard-to-staff schools in order to attractskilled, veteran teachers to difficult teachingenvironments.

• Evaluate the idea of developing a statewide salaryschedule that would reduce the “poaching” of

teachers between districts.

• Create housing incentives for educators, inpartnership with private developers, financialinstitutions and/or the Delaware State HousingAuthority to combat the challenges manyteachers face in finding affordable housing.

• Reduce and eliminate, if possible, the 90-daywaiting period for health insurance benefits (anda similar change should be made for other stateemployees as well).

• Create mid-and late-career roles that provideadditional compensation for different types ofnon-management work within the schools (e.g.,new teacher training, academic leadership,curriculum development, peer mentoring).

• Work to create positive work conditions foreducators including the very tangible (a safeenvironment, appropriate class sizes, a school withgood heat, air conditioning, plumbing, etc., and withthe essential educational materials) as well as the lesstangible, like a principal and administrative staff whoprovide strong, sound educational leadership in acollaborative environment. From my ownexperience in the private sector, I know that thewhole issue of working conditions is key, andpropose that the state, in conjunction with theDelaware State Education Association, surveyeducation professionals in Delaware to determineexactly how they regard conditions in Delaware.

And finally we ought to develop new models for teachercompensation. Surely any suggestion of changing the waywe compensate teachers will generate plenty ofcontroversy. But good models exist and we can learn fromthem. Consider what Brad Jupp, a former teacher inDenver’s public schools had to say about why he workedso hard to move that city’s Pro-Comp model of teachercompensation forward: “We are in an exceptionalmoment, one where the single salary schedule can nolonger support the pressures placed on it by theexpectations of a 21st century public education system.”

The Pro-Comp model uses a range of differentmeasurements to reward professional practice.Specifically, there are four major components built into


Within these categories the audit considers 88 specificperformance measures.

I am recommending that we study these audit models.Under our present system, progress on school evaluationand improvement may be uneven because it relies toomuch on individual judgments and recommendations. Bydescribing standard performance benchmarks for eachschool function as well as a standard audit protocol, asKentucky has done, Delaware would be assured of havingmeaningful, uniform measures on which to assess bothschool performance and improvement. And that is acritical part of giving taxpayers the information they needto make informed judgments about the bang for the buckwe Delawareans are getting for our schools.

Introducing a Far Better System of StudentEvaluation.

A truly useful method for measuring accountability is onethat both teachers and students can understand, and onethat reveals whether the correct amount of studentlearning is occurring. Unfortunately, there are multipleproblems with our current method for measuringaccountability, the Delaware State Testing Program. It ispossible that the Congress will, through the upcomingreauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, address amajor concern by converting to the use of a growth modelto measure accountability. However, whether or notCongress takes this step, we must take the lead inDelaware. We must change to an adaptive testing methodthat provides our teachers and students more frequentand discrete information about learning gains — or thelack thereof. In addition, we must work with other statesto build a testing regimen that allows for comparabilitybeyond our own borders. Not only does the system of 50different testing systems make interstate comparisondifficult and invalid, it significantly increases expenses forthe states that must develop their own standardized tests.Certainly, we must also modify our accountability practicesto accommodate special-education students and Englishlanguage learners.

Finally, a more solid and accurate measurement ofaccountability would result were we to add a qualitativecomponent to the measurement system, and studentportfolios would be an excellent tool to use in this

approach. Not only would portfolios present a morethree-dimensional view of student performance, theywould also increase student enthusiasm and interest inthe accountability process.

These changes are necessary both because they are in thebest interest of the students and because they are the onlyrealistic foundation for any plan that pays the teacherbased in part on student performance. Dr. David Berlinerof Arizona State University writes that the current systemof high stakes testing across the country is actuallycorrupting the teaching profession.134

Effective Choice and Charter Program thatStrengthen All of our Students.

Delaware has one of the only comprehensive publicschool choice programs in the country: Delaware’sstudents and families can choose to attend any publicschool in the State. We have moved early and fast to offerparents and their children an array of choices through ourinter-district public school enrollment and the charterschool programs. Our public school choice and charterschool laws are considered “strong” by nationalresearchers, and we rank third in the nation in thepercentage of children who attend charter schools.135 As of2006, Delaware had 17 charter schools serving 7,576students.136

After more than a decade of operation for both programs,it is time to evaluate these policies and make the necessaryadjustments. Are the programs working as originallydesired or not? How do we know that? What measures arewe using to determine this? Are school choices andcharter schools helping or hurting the ability of existingpublic school districts to offer parents and students qualityprograms?

While clearly offering parents and students increasededucational options, we must also determine if thesepolicy initiatives are producing positive changes. Forexample, the three consecutive years of evaluation reportsprepared for the Delaware Department of Educationregarding charter schools revealed some successes andalso brought to light issues of major public policy concernregarding the ‘new’ segregation of public schools.Certainly, one of the issues that must be addressedincludes construction financing for charter schools, an

to help ensure their passage, so that we can build the bestpossible special education program here in Delaware.

Resources We Need, AccountabilityWe Can Utilize with ConfidenceEnsuring Education Dollars Go As Far AsPossible.

All of the foregoing badly needed efforts mean we willneed to invest in our education system and our children’sfutures. I pledge to lead the fight to do so. But publicresources must come with meaningful publicaccountability. Taxpayers, parents — and, ultimately, ourchildren — have a right to expect that every dollar wespend on education is being used as effectively andefficiently as possible to produce results. There are manyways we can move in this direction, freeing up dollars forour schools while protecting taxpayers, and I intend topursue these aggressively.

A recent study by the “Leadership for EducationAchievement in Delaware” Committee, established byGov. Minner, identified between $86 million and $158million in potential savings opportunities. Some of theseare relatively low-hanging fruit, including streamlinedtransportation planning and coordinated purchasingacross school districts. Others are more controversial. Butwhen it comes to ensuring that our tax dollars are beingspent wisely, we must agree to consider all proposals andevaluate them based on a single criterion: what is in thebest interest of our students?

Specifically, we ought to put more discretion overspending closer to the student — in other words in theschool building. Currently, decisions over staffing,equipment and the like are made at the state or districtlevel. Strong leadership at the school building levelobviously requires excellent, properly trained principalswho know how to create a strong team-oriented workingenvironment. Moreover, we are too heavily tied toinflexible formulas — the number of assistant principals,guidance counselors, teachers and other staff is tieddirectly to the number of students, without sufficientregard to the challenges each student confronts (e.g.special education, English as a second language, andhigh poverty).

There are some relatively mundane features of oureducation funding system which also must be changed.For example, we have to change the “September 30” datewhich dictates staffing levels. Currently, schools anddistricts are required to use the number of students as ofSeptember 30 to determine how many teachers and otherstaff they are entitled to. So in some cases, a school maylearn on that date that it has enough students to hire anadditional teacher. If the job is posted on October 1 and anew teacher is in the classroom on November 15, thatmeans some students have to adjust to a new teacher 10weeks into the school year. That does not make any senseand should be changed.

Finally, taxpayers deserve a straight answer on how fundsare being spent and the results they are generating. Thenext three sections discuss ways we can do that.

Creating a Balanced Financial AccountabilitySystem for Delaware.

Detailed uniform measures of accountability, comparingdistricts across the state, and where appropriate, in otherstates, are critical to generating the public trust that a changein the funding system requires. I will make that happen.

In response to the challenges of No Child Left Behind,several states are employing a comprehensive auditmethodology that was developed in Kentucky, with similarstandardized school improvement programs in use inTennessee (Tennessee School Improvement PlanningProcess-TSIPP), Colorado (Colorado System of SchoolSupport-CS3), and North Carolina (Closing theAchievement Gap). The audit process is based onstatewide Standards and Indicators for SchoolImprovement (SISS). There are nine standards for schooloperations in three categories:

• Academic performance (which comprisescurriculum; classroom assessment andevaluation; instruction);

• Learning environment (school culture; student,family, and community support; professionalgrowth, development, and evaluation); and

• Efficiency (leadership; organizational structureand resources; comprehensive and effectiveplanning).


with the General Assembly to make $1 million availableover four years to market the “Workforce 21st Century”campaign statewide, and I will personally meet withstudents and parents in town hall sessions about theDelaware’s menu of “Workforce 21st Century” careerresources.

The “Workforce 21st Century” initiative will include awebsite that provides our hard-working Delaware familieseasy-to-understand information about preparing for andpaying for college. I expect it will build on thewww.collegesavingstoolkit.com website I introduced lastyear in my capacity as Chair of the Delaware CollegeInvestment Plan board.

Community Colleges:

A larger share of Delaware’s adults than the nationalaverage are enrolled in college, which means ourcommunity colleges are doing a good job of meeting theneeds of this critical segment of the workforce. DelawareTech, the state community college system, was created in1966, but has undergone a boom in the past decade. In2006 there were nearly 41,000 enrolled in the college, andthere are now 46 nationally accredited programs to meetthe needs of Delaware’s citizens and employers —compared to just 15 in 1995. We have 66 articulationagreements allowing credits from Delaware Tech totransfer to other institutions, a 560% increase since 1995.140

Delaware Tech administrators have launched an effort tomake policymakers aware of a critical issue facing theinstitution. Space at Delaware Tech is at a real premium.Because of a shortage of specialized labs, science labs andcomputer classrooms, students in 32 programs (18 ofthem related to health care) are either on waiting lists toget into their major or have been denied access to coursesthey need. In fact, during the fall of 2007, there were 646students who could not access one or more of the sciencecourses needed to make progress toward their degree.

By 2012 Delaware Tech expects that number to more thandouble. The overriding factor driving this increase inenrollment is the economy we live in, an economy whichrequires people to get additional education beyond thehigh school level in order to qualify for the good-payingjobs that are available in our community. For example,Christiana Care recently announced a major expansion,

which will create 750 job openings in nursing and alliedhealth care per year between now and 2012 with startingsalaries between $50,000 and $65,000. Without funding toexpand, administrators at Delaware Tech project that theywill be unable to provide the number of job-readygraduates Christiana and the other health care agencieswill need.

Despite the outstanding efforts at Delaware Tech,Delaware still has among the lowest rates in the countryof workers with associate’s degrees.141 This isunacceptable. Delaware Tech is one of our lead economicdrivers. Unlike in many states, 90% of DTCC graduateswork in Delaware after receiving education and training,and over 500 companies benefit from that skilledworkforce. It cannot fulfill that role unless it continues toinnovate as well and fortunately, Delaware Tech hasinnovated in a number of key areas.

Delaware must have a two-pronged approach toimproving higher education opportunities, targeting bothyoung people for two-year and four-year college degreesand adults already in the workforce who are underskilledfor today’s jobs. It has the mechanism to achieve thiscoordination through its P-20 Council, which theOpportunity Knocks report rightly characterizes as one ofour needed “first steps” in transforming Delaware’seducation and training system.142

As part of my platform for producing Delaware’s 21stcentury workforce, I will work through the P-20 Council tointroduce the following workforce enhancementprograms.

Broadening the Reach of HigherEducationHigh School Graduation Rates and CollegeReadiness.

One of the most serious signs of the weaknesses thatremain in our educational system is our low graduationrate, which at 39th is in the bottom quartile nationally andfar below that of our neighboring states of Pennsylvania,Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey.143 There is atremendous cost to our low graduation rates. Not only dothe young people who fail to graduate from high school

issue which received considerable publicity in connectionwith the pursuit of conduit bond financing by theDelaware Military Academy. But that issue must beconsidered in the context of a host of issues, includingthose highlighted in the evaluation report prepared byresearchers from Western Michigan University on behalfof the Delaware Department of Education.

We do need to review how well charter schools and inter-district transfers are serving the needs of all Delawarefamilies, regardless of race or socioeconomic standing.And we need parents to understand their options forutilizing charter schools — a deficit identified inOpportunity Knocks.

Opening a Career Fastlane: SAGE“Support, Accelerate, Graduate,Employ”Today more than ever, our students will not succeed in theoutside world if we do not forge strong connectionsbetween the classroom and the workplace. Ensuring thissuccessful partnership means strengthening graduates’science and technology, thinking and leadership skills;increasing graduation rates and college readinessstatewide; promoting our community colleges; improvingvocational or “career and technical” education in oursecondary schools; and pursuing a Workforce 21stCentury marketing campaign.

“Next Generation” Vocational EducationPrograms.

As governor, I will ensure that vocational education inDelaware remains strong by fostering next-generationcareer and technical education (CTE) programs called“career pathways.” Career pathways, which exist in someDelaware schools today, offer students the opportunity tobegin training for a high-wage career in high school bytaking a series of progressively more advanced courses ina particular technical area like electronics, computerprogramming, allied health care or engineering.

Rising Above the Gathering Storm, the report by theNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, andMedicine,137 cites “creating opportunities and incentivesfor middle-school and high-school students to pursue

advanced work in science and mathematics” as one of themost important goals for the country. Career pathwaysprovide that incentive because they blend academic STEMcoursework with cutting-edge vocational training to givestudents both the knowledge and the know-how tocompete in the new economy. Career pathways studentscomplete the regular high school curriculum, but theyalso have the opportunity to take specialized collegecourses in their “career path” or professional discipline.

To facilitate career pathways, states must ensure thatcommunity colleges collaborate with their local highschools to offer “dual-credit” — or joint high school andcollege credit — for students who complete college-levelwork while still in high school. Delaware has a law thatrequires high schools and colleges to offer theseprograms,138 but we must do more to make sure that dualcredit options are easily available, and that parents andchildren know about the ways they can get an early starton college. States that have aggressively expanded dual-credit programs see both social and financial benefits. TheCommonwealth of Virginia, for example, estimates thatparticipation in college credit while in high school“save[d] students and their families up to $5,000 inreduced college-tuition costs.”139

In addition to the array of state funds that support publicschool and higher education opportunities, we can uselarge federal grants, like Carl Perkins funding, to supportthese high quality CTE programs, and as governor I willensure that we do.

“Workforce 21st Century” Marketing Campaign:

We know from national studies that Delaware does not doan adequate job of graduating students from high schoolin four years and, then, getting these high schoolgraduates into college-level education and training. Thecareer pathways public school/college partnershipprogram that I have outlined will produce betteroutcomes, but only if they are widely utilized.

As governor, I will launch the “Workforce 21st Century”campaign to make sure our young people, parents andworking adults understand the benefits of gettingeducation beyond high school. Texas has devoted $10million to its “Education—Go Get It” campaign. Delawareis a much smaller state, but no less important. I will work


scholarship. These scholarships are for “Delawarestudents who stay in school, work hard, and stay out oftrouble.”151 While this program provides excellentopportunities, it is only a beginning. We must expand theprogram beyond its two-year, associate’s degreelimitations so that we can provide qualified Delawarestudents with a four-year college education and abachelor’s degree.

University Research and Development:

Delaware’s two public universities—the University ofDelaware and Delaware State University—are institutionsto be proud of. The University of Delaware, one of theoldest public universities in America, is recognized amongthe 100 best universities in the country.152 Delaware State,an honored historically black university for more than 100years, was ranked in 2006 as the 13th best university in theUnited States for graduating black students.153

But despite our success in producing a high-quality,homegrown workforce, Delaware has not done enoughto develop its universities as engines of economic growth.In the past 50 years, technological change has beenresponsible for as much as 85% of income growth andmore than half of the nation’s economic growth. Tomaintain its preeminence in the rapidly evolvingknowledge economy, the United States must continue toexcel in basic research — 60% of which is supported byfederal funding.

Delaware’s immediate neighbors, including Pennsylvania,Maryland and Virginia, are among the highest recipients offederal research funding and venture capital investment,much of which is attributable to the unique assets of theUniversity of Pennsylvania, the University of Virginia andthe University of Maryland, which rank fifth, 23rd, and54th respectively compared to the University ofDelaware’s 71st place in the 2008 ranking of the best U.S.colleges.154 Delaware has the capacity to rival its sisterstates along the Eastern Seaboard for venture capitalinvestment, R&D, and business activity in the industriesthat will dominate the future — bio- and nano-engineering, information technology, and renewable andadvanced energy — but it must have a comprehensive,strategic plan for doing so.

I am proposing the following four interrelated programs

to increase the economic impact of our universities, eachof which leverages the state’s investment with federal andprivate funding.

We know from the experiences of states like NorthCarolina, California and Kentucky that world-classuniversities attract capital. This is true for several reasons:businesses partner with universities to develop newtechnologies, commercialize technologies, share facilitiesand talent, and recruit workers. They have an economicincentive to locate in proximity to their universitypartners, where they can benefit from innovationsspinning out of federal and academic research and accessthe best scientific minds.

I am proposing to create an investment fund over the nextthree years to raise the quality of research projects andresearch faculty at the University of Delaware andDelaware State. To tap into the state fund, the universitieswill have to raise private matching dollars. Over the pastdecade Kentucky has invested over $350 million (matchedby private donations for a total investment fund of $700million) to stimulate research and innovation in itsuniversities. Delaware has the highest per capita real grossdomestic product (GDP) in the United States, comparedto Kentucky, which ranks 43rd.155 I am challenging allDelawareans to join me in demanding that we invest inmaking the University of Delaware a top-tier researchinstitution by 2025 and begin immediately to strengthenour capacities for innovation, intellectual leadership andtechnology commercialization, and to generate jobs inemerging high-tech, high-wage industries.

Second, we will create additional incentives and supportstatewide to increase grant funding. We will matchadditional grant resources that the universities andcolleges raise from the federal government. We also willform the Governor’s Grants Office to help our State bettermaximize federal and foundation support for its majorinitiatives. Maryland established a Governor’s GrantsOffice with a full-time staff devoted to identifying federalgrant opportunities, with the result of growing federalgrant funding from $5.5 billion in 2005 to $7.5 billion in2007.

Finally, I am proposing that we establish the DelawareTechnology Partnership at Delaware State University as a

stand to personally lose so much in lifetime earnings; butthe state of Delaware also loses. According to one report,if Delaware could increase the high school graduation ratefrom just over 60 percent to 90 percent for all students,while maintaining college graduation rates, then anadditional 2,900 students each year would have theopportunity for a better life, and an additional $2.6 billioncould be invested in Delaware’s economy as a result oftheir higher earnings.144

The Opportunity Knocks study also demonstrates that“our average performance on the SAT is substantiallylower than that of our peers.” New York City, along with anumber of states, has begun offering the PSAT free ofcharge to 10th and 11th graders. As a result of this policyshift, “[i]n just one year, [New York City was] able toincrease the number of students taking that test by nearly10,000. That's 10,000 more kids who are now thinkingseriously about college and their futures.”145

In Delaware, some districts already offer some of theseprograms. As governor, I will ensure that we use simpletools like this one to motivate all of our children to stay inschool, to strive for college, to believe that they can besuccessful in college, and to hone the skills that can makethem so.

Early College/Middle College.

Updating the school curriculum is among the mostimportant changes in improving school quality.146 EarlyCollege/Middle College programs are perhaps the mostgroundbreaking of new educational reforms to do justthat. These schools are collaborations between schooldistricts and colleges that allow students to complete twoyears of college or an associate's degree during the fouryears of high school.

The Early College/Middle College approach is particularlyeffective for students who have already dropped out ofschool or are at risk of doing so. By allowing students totake college and high school courses at the same time, wemore effectively challenge “at risk” students and helpthem get through school faster. Dropouts often are notnecessarily unable to learn, nor are they even poorstudents. Research shows that poor-performing studentsoften do better when given a more challengingcurriculum than they do in a dumbed-down environment.

Therefore, this approach eliminates duplication in thecurriculum and the need for costly and demoralizingremediation of high school graduates in college, easestransition into college, and reduces the number of yearsrequired to degree completion, thereby reducing barriersto college for many students.

The Knowledge Works Foundation, in collaboration withthe Kellogg Foundation, the Gates Foundation and Jobsfor the Future, has started eight Early College high schoolsin Ohio. According to Knowledge Works, students in alleight pilot projects are taking and passing college-levelcourses, beginning as early as the freshman year of highschool, and according to an early evaluation of theprogram by Harvard University’s Graduate School ofEducation, Ohio’s Early College students are preparing togo to college in far greater numbers than their peers inurban public schools.147

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has providedmore than $120 million to support the development ofEarly College schools across the nation. Since 2002, thepartner organizations of the Early College High SchoolInitiative have started or redesigned over 130 schools in 24states. None are in Delaware.148 Through the Initiative’scontinued efforts, the partners will ultimately open about250 small schools, serving over 100,000 students annually.

As governor, I will make sure that we take a closer look atthe successes the program has had in other states andexperiment with this new model in Delaware.

Scholarships for Students With Solid Citizenship.

When it comes to higher education, Delaware is a state ofhaves and have-nots. We know that Delaware’s economydepends on more two-year and four-year collegegraduates. But compared to other states overall, relativelyfew Delaware high school graduates enroll in collegeimmediately after high school,149 and cost may be onereason why. The 2006 national Measuring Up highereducation report card gives Delaware an F for collegeaffordability: In the past decade, state college aid perstudent has decreased 37%, from $62 to $39.150 Otherstates devote more of state resources to need-basedfinancial aid. I will make college more affordable.Currently, students in Delaware who meet certainqualifications may qualify for what we call a SEED


ConclusionI’m running for governor for a simple reason: I believeDelaware can do better.

All over the state, I hear the same thing again and again:Delawareans love it here, but they also know we can dobetter. There is a thirst for change – not for more of thesame, with perhaps a slight tweak here or there, but fortruly changing Delaware for the better. For makingDelaware a place of opportunity for our kids and theirgeneration, as it has been for so many of us.

And while that bright future is certainly possible, it’s notassured.

We have some wonderful businesses in Delaware. Butmany of the major employers of my childhood – Dupont,General Motors, Chrysler, Hercules and NVF – havedownsized or moved away.

We have some terrific hospitals and one is even building a$200 million expansion – but we also have more than100,000 people in Delaware, including 20,000 children,with no health insurance. And even more are struggling tokeep up with rising insurance costs.

We have some great institutions of higher learning and theUniversity of Delaware even has a $1 billion endowment –but our high school graduation rate ranks about 40th inthe country, and half of our African-American and Hispanickids drop out of high school before graduating.

We have a fantastic court system and a wonderful legalindustry – but our state ranks among the very lowest increating new businesses.

I’m not satisfied with any of that – and I bet you’re noteither. And that’s what this election is all about.

We can either settle for the way things are – or we can tryto do better. For our state. Our schools. Our families. Ourchildren.

We can either vote for more of the same – or we canchoose to move forward.

We can either accept that Delaware is good enough – orwe can aim to make it the best.

I believe that we can make the First State first again.

That’s what I’ve attempted to do as your state treasurer forthe past nine years. Here’s a small example:

Every year, Brown University’s Taubman Center for PublicPolicy, in an independent national survey, ranks every statefor its e-government services to citizens. In 2000, the firstyear of the study, it ranked Delaware 50th in the nation –dead last. The next year I was asked to lead an effort torevamp the way the state manages informationtechnology. Along with a group of terrific folks on theInformation Technology Task Force, we helped turnthings around. I was able to use my experience in theprivate sector – when I helped build from scratch whatbecame a leader in the cell phone field – to modernize thestate’s use of information technology.

Led by a new team at the Department of Technology andInformation and outstanding public servants in theGovernment Information Center, Delaware aggressivelypursued several initiatives to provide enhanced stateservices via the internet. They worked to lift Delaware outof last place – and they did.

Last year, in the same study, as a result of these efforts,Delaware was ranked first in the nation. From last to first.

I believe that if we can make Delaware Number One in acategory in which it recently ranked dead last, then we canmake Delaware Number One in every category. And weshould.

And that’s why I’ve worked so hard over the last eightyears to reduce the cost of government by tens of millionsof dollars by negotiating better deals from vendors doingbusiness with the state.

That’s why I worked hard to increase the number offamilies participating in the Delaware College InvestmentPlan by more than 20,000. Together, those 20,000 familieshave saved $300 million.

That’s why I started a nationally-recognized initiative tohelp state employees get physicals and learn how toimprove their health. That brought down the cost of theirhealthcare – which saved them and the state money – andimproved their health.

That’s why, when I learned that 10% of the people in thisstate didn’t have a checking account – and that even more

public-private venture. The partnership would linkstudents from Delaware State with summer internships inhigh-tech companies. We would provide Delaware State$150,000 per year to cover the costs of promoting theprogram and hosting “job fairs” to introduce prospectivestudents to employers. Employers would contributeinternships and mentoring. In addition to this annualfunding, I will seek $100,000 in seed funding to put anorganizational structure in place and recruit partners andstakeholders to the enterprise.

Conclusion.

It is time for Delaware to take our education system to thenext level – by providing opportunities for all children tobecome future leaders, ensuring a high quality publicschool experience that opens the door to college and theworld of work, and preparing collegians with the skills tosucceed in the real-world workforce.


Delaware than in most other states. I’m convinced wecan’t tinker around the edges of the problem andpretend that small solutions will spark majorimprovements. As governor, I will make it one of mytop priorities to make Delaware a model for the nationwhen it comes to containing costs and to providinghealth care that can never be taken away. First, we willfocus on enrolling Delawareans who are already eligiblefor health coverage programs. Second, we will provideall Delaware families with the opportunity to purchaseaffordable coverage for their children by making theDelaware Healthy Children Program available to all kidswith sliding scale premiums based on family income.Third, I will establish a Diamond State HealthMarketplace to develop a comprehensive, affordable,and portable health care delivery system available to allsmall businesses, sole proprietors, uninsuredindividuals, and families. All Delawareans who liketheir current health coverage will have the option tokeep it; but for those who are not satisfied, or thosewith no coverage at all, my plan will provide affordablecoverage through a large risk pool to open up accessand drive down costs. Fourth, employers shouldcontribute to the cost of coverage for their workers, orpay the public for the coverage we must pick up forthem. And to ensure access to and continuity of healthcare coverage, I will require insurers to guaranteecoverage for all individuals. Underlying all of theseinitiatives will be a deep commitment to containinghealth care costs.

Early Childhood: We must make sure that every child shows up on the firstday of school ready to learn and we must remember thatthe first 1000 days of a child’s life play a significant role inhis or her success in school and in life. As governor, I willintroduce legislation to provide state matching funds forthe Delaware Parent Leadership Institute to strengthenschool-family ties and online tools to keep parentsinformed about their children’s progress and to helpreinforce classroom learning at home. I will expand accessto high-quality early childhood education, offering full daykindergarten and lowering class sizes in elementaryschool, and offering additional learning time to those whoneed it the most, including after-school enrichment. I will

improve and expand those effective programs aimed atlow-performing students, and will push as governor toexpand pre-kindergarten for all 3 - and 4 -year olds whosefamilies are within 200% of poverty. In particular, statesubsidies for care for children from low-income familiesmust be increased and tied to performance. And I willincrease the amount of state funding to train highlyqualified early education teachers.

Education: We need to support our teachers and improve thequality of our schools. I will ensure that we have highlyqualified teachers by creating the “Teaching 21st CenturyLoan Forgiveness Program,” which will re-pay collegeloans for students majoring in designated teachershortage areas. I will also recruit students with highacademic potential into teacher preparation programs,create economic incentives for teachers to make longterm commitments, and create mid-and late-career rolesin new teacher training, academic leadership, curriculumdevelopment and peer mentoring. And, while parentswant schools with the resources to ensure their childrenhave the tools and facilities they need to learn, thoseresources must come with accountability. Detaileduniform measures of accountability, comparing districtsacross the state, and, where appropriate, in other states,are critical to generating the public trust that a change inthe funding system requires. I will make that happen.

Higher Education: Right now, a college education is out of reach for too manyDelawareans because they cannot afford tuition. I want tochange that. The SEED scholarship program providesexcellent opportunities, but it is only a beginning. I willcreate a new program that goes beyond SEED’s two-year,associate’s degree limitations to provide qualifiedDelaware students who have financial need with a four-year college education and a bachelor’s degree. I want toreward students who study hard and live right. EveryDelaware child should have the opportunity to earn abachelor’s degree and to compete for the best jobs.Financial hurdles are a huge problem, but they are not theonly thing that keeps a college education from beingaccessible to everyone. If we are going to do better we

lacked basic financial literacy skills – I started the DelawareMoney School, providing free classes to thousands ofpeople, teaching them to balance a checkbook, build apersonal budget, and better manage their own money.These classes have helped more than 25,000 people inDelaware learn basic financial literacy skills, so they canhave more control of their own lives and stretch theirpaychecks further.

And it’s why, along with the incredible folks at theNehemiah Gateway Community DevelopmentCorporation, I organized hundreds of volunteers to helptens of thousands of Delawareans file their taxes: Haveyou ever heard about the EITC – the earned income taxcredit? It’s a tax refund that rewards hard work by thosepeople earning the minimum wage or slightly above it.But it’s complicated to understand. Most working peopledon’t have accountants or financial advisers; too manydon’t even know about the EITC, let alone how to goabout filing for it. But as a result of the effort we puttogether, last year alone, these volunteers helped theirneighbors get more than $15 million in refunds theyotherwise wouldn’t have received. They made a realdifference for people like Stacy, a single mother strugglingto raise two kids – our volunteers discovered that she waseligible for a $1,500 refund, which she used to invest in aCD for each of her children, saving money for theirfutures. She had never had a savings account before. Butnow thousands of Delawareans have money they neverhad before, their children have brighter futures – andthey need to rely on taxpayer assistance less than theymight have otherwise.

All because these Delawareans share my belief that wedon’t have to settle for more of the same – we can strivefor the best.

That’s the kind of state treasurer I’ve been. And now, it’swhy I’m running for governor – because I believe we cando better. I believe that we can make Delaware #1 in allthese areas – efficient government, college affordability,health care, financial opportunity, and more – just as wedid with technology. And my record in the private sectorand in the treasurer’s office proves that: We can become#1. I believe that we should.

That’s why all the programs and ideas I’ve proposed in

this book aim for the best. I don’t want to prepare justsome of our kids for the jobs of the 21st Century – I wantto prepare all of them to do their best. I don’t want just toensure that some Delawareans get the health carecoverage they need in the next four years – I want to makeaffordable, high-quality care available to all our families. Idon’t want to stop crime and violence in some parts of ourstate – I want to protect all our citizens. And I don’t wantto see Delaware take another eight years to go part waytoward our goals – I think Delaware deserves a governorwho wants to actually cross the goal line, and has a plan toget us there. As I said at the outset, as treasurer I haveinterpreted my mission broadly, embraced new ideas,stressed collaboration, and insisted that we do whatever ittakes to make a positive and measurable difference forDelaware’s families and for our state – and that’s what weneed from a governor, as well:

Jobs:Our next governor needs to do more to relieve theburdens of middle-class families. That starts with havingthe vision and know-how to attract the good high-payingjobs that keep our economy vibrant. We must take boldsteps toward improving the economic developmentclimate here in Delaware if we are going to make surethat Delaware remains a great place to live and work. My“TIME” plan – Turning Ideas into MeaningfulEmployment – sets the goal of creating 25,000 new jobsduring my first term as governor. The plan combines theresources of Delaware’s schools, businesses, banks,agricultural community and government to build newbusinesses that will flourish here at home. I’m the onlycandidate with a concrete plan to improve our economyand create 25,000 jobs in the next four years: I will start byfostering an educated, skilled workforce. And I will investin programs that protect our natural resources,strengthen our local communities, and highlight ourlifestyle to attract high-wage industries.

Health Care: For too many people, our health care system isn’tworking and we need a change. Unfortunately, our statehas been heading in the wrong direction, with thepercentage of uninsured rising more rapidly in


fully engage their skills and interests. They have so muchto offer and we all benefit when they have opportunitiesto give back.

Civil rights:We absolutely must be a leader in ensuring civil rights forall our citizens. Delaware is small enough to be a state ofneighbors and large enough to welcome newcomers.Everybody in Delaware – African American, white,Hispanic, Asian, gay or straight – should know that Ipromise to protect your civil rights and expand youropportunities.

I am the only candidate for governor calling for all this,and providing a detailed plan to get there: very simply, theissue in this campaign is whether we are going to continuealong the path that we’ve been following, or whether weare going to take bold steps toward a stronger, healthierDelaware. I, for one, will aim high, and I hope that you willjoin me.

need to be creative about keeping kids focused on andmotivated by getting a college education. One size doesn’tnecessarily fit all, and an early/middle college program willhelp us tap into the talents of some kids who aren’t takingthe next steps today. Fostering a vibrant researchatmosphere within our universities is crucial if we wantDelaware to do well in the 21st-century economy andbeyond. It will help attract top researchers, whoseinnovations in technology and science will drive economicgrowth, and it will give great opportunities to our studentsto learn at the highest levels. It’s a win, win, win scenario.

Workforce development: We’ve all heard about young people who can’t get a jobbecause they don’t have the right experience – but theycan’t get the right experience until they have a job. Mystrategy attacks this problem by making sure students aregaining the right skills and experience before they enterthe job market. Too many businesses are sufferingbecause they cannot find workers with advancedknowledge and skills. My plan also provides businesseswith a pool of talented potential employees they will needto be successful, by graduating more kids from highschool and doing more to promote community college.As governor, I will ensure that vocational education inDelaware remains strong by fostering cutting-edge “careerpathways” programs that allow students to begin trainingfor a high-wage career in high school. I also will launch the“Workforce 21st Century” campaign to make sure ouryoung people, parents and working adults understand thebenefits of getting education beyond high school. And Iwill direct Delaware's P-20 Council to work closely withDelaware businesses to identify education needs forworkers and develop a plan to get these employees intothe classroom and then bring those skills back to theirjobs.

Environment:We can’t burn our way to energy independence – we havegot to make conservation and renewable energy a reality.I’ve laid out a detailed plan to make Delaware a leader inboth of these areas. But leadership requires more thanplans. Several months earlier than any other statewideofficial, I supported the offshore wind project proposed

for Sussex County. I wasn’t very popular at the time,especially among some powerful special interests. But Iknew what I believed to be right. I spoke up. And I willlead with conviction to make sure that we don’t squanderour opportunity to be a leader in energy. By investing inclean renewable energy technology as well as inconservation, and expending our political will and politicalcapital, we can make sure that Delaware remains a greatplace to do business.

Safety:As governor, my goal every day will be to makeDelaware an even better place to work, live and raise afamily. Making sure our families are safe is afundamental piece of that. I have proposed specificactions we can take to address the causes of crime in aneffort to reduce the amount of crime, as well as toimprove the way we fight crime. I will establish aDelaware COPS Program to help fund the hiring andequipping of 200 new police officers over a four-yearperiod. I will also see to it that the state invests insmarter law enforcement by partnering with local lawenforcement and deploying the latest technology. Wewill do more to prepare offenders for release and takesteps to encourage their successful re-entry into societythrough a coordinated statewide re-entry initiative. It isimpossible to significantly reduce many types of crimewithout addressing drug and alcohol abuse, but wehave to ensure that there are enough treatmentopportunities available. My plan does both. Finally, I willwork to keep children and families safe by doing moreto reduce domestic violence, curb drunk driving, andassist victims with a Delaware Office for Victims ofCrime.

Seniors:We need to ensure that Delaware's older residents canafford the health care they need, live more securely inretirement, and lead the healthy, active, and independentlives they want to live. Delaware's seniors want to enjoyactive lives in their own homes and communities.Unaffordable drugs mean that seniors may delay getting aprescription filled, skip a dose or take less medicine. Andwe should do all we can to give seniors the opportunity to


45 Id.46 Id.47 Id.48 Pioneer Homepage, http://www.pioneer.com/pioneer_info/llook.htm.49 Biden.senate.gov50 “2007 Delaware Domestic Violence Coordinating Council Annual Report,” www.ddvcc.delaware.gov51 Delaware Office of Highway Safety52 See Statehealthfacts.org, http://statehealthfacts.org/profileind.jsp?ind=135&cat=3&rgn=9 53 Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Health Expenditures by State Provider: Summary Tables, May

2006, available at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalHealthExpendData/downloads/nhestatesummary2004.pdf.54 Julie Appleby, “Health Care Spending Rose at Twice the Rate of Inflation in ‘05,” USA Today, January 9, 2007, available at:

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2007-01-09-costs-usat_x.htm55 Id.56 Delaware Health Care Commission Annual Report and Strategic Plan, 2007, www.state.de.us/dhcc. Note that the Commission’s

estimates of the uninsured in Delaware are based on a 3-year average (2004-2006).57 Delaware Health Care Commission Annual Report and Strategic Plan, 2007, www.state.de.us/dhcc. Note that the Commission’s

estimates of the uninsured in Delaware are based on a 3-year average (2004-2006). 58 U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. Economic Brief, THE NUMBER OF AMERICANS WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE ROSE

FOR THE FIFTH YEAR IN A ROW IN 2005, August 2006. http://jec.senate.gov/Documents/Reports/healthinsurance2006.pdf59 Kaiser Family Foundation, www.statehealthfacts.org, 2003-04 data 60 See www.statehealthfacts.org 61 Kaiser Family Foundation, Health Care Spending in the United States and OECD Countries, January 2007,

http://www.kff.org/insurance/snapshot/chcm010307oth.cfm 62 Commonwealth Fund, Commission on a High-Performance Health System,

http://www.cmwf.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=401577 63 Kaiser Family Foundation, www.statehealthfacts.org, January 17, 2007.64 Families USA, “Paying a Premium: The Added Cost of Care for the Uninsured” June 2005,

http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/Paying_a_Premium_rev_July_13731e.pdf 65 Id.66 Id.67 Institute of Medicine: Hidden Costs, Value Lost: Uninsurance in America. 2003.68 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends. 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel

Survey (MEPS) -Insurance Component. Table II.C.3 available at: Medical Expenditure Panel survey (MEPS), July 2006.69 Delaware Health Care Commission Annual Report and Strategic Plan, 2007, www.state.de.us/dhcc. The Commission’s estimates of

the uninsured are based on a 3-year average (2004-2006).70 Id.71 Annual Report On the Department of Human Services’ Implementation of Programs To Address Uninsurance Among Rhode

Islanders. Submitted to Permanent Committee on Health Care Oversight by Gary Alexander, Acting Director, Rhode IslandDepartment of Human Services. February 15, 2007. p. 26.

72 See www.statehealthfacts.org.73 Delaware does not currently allow presumptive eligibility or self-declaration of income, two enrollment criteria that could help

enroll more eligible families. (Statehealthfacts.org) 74 The Children’s Partnership, About Express Lane Eligibility,

http://www.expresslaneinfo.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=About_Express_Lane_Eligibility 75 Delaware Health Care Commission Annual Report and Strategic Plan, 2007, www.state.de.us/dhcc. 76 Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, Health Care Reform Answers for Massachusetts Businesses,

www.mass.gov/Qhic/docs/Business_Requirements_pr.doc. 77 Insurers slice rates on health premiums, Boston Globe, March 4, 2007,

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/03/04/insurers_slice_rates_on_health_premiums?mode=PF 78 Kaiser Family Foundation, www.statehealthfacts.org, January 17, 2007.79 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends. 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel

Survey (MEPS) -Insurance Component. Table II.C.3 available at: Medical Expenditure Panel survey (MEPS), July 2006.80 S. R. Collins, Universal Health Insurance: Why It Is Essential to Achieving a High Performance Health System and Why Design

Matters, Invited Testimony for the Committee on the Budget, United States Senate Hearing on "Health Care and the Budget:

1 Energy Information Administration, Energy Consumption by Source and Total Consumption per Capita, Ranked byState, 2004, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/states/sep_sum/plain_html/rank_use_per_cap.html

2 Energy Information Administration, Average Retail Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State,http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/electricity/epm/table5_6_a.html

3 Ron Pernick and Clint Wilder. The Clean Tech Revolution. Collins Publishing, 2007 (page 59)4 Delaware Million Solar Roofs Partners, http://www.delaware-energy.com/million-roofs.html 5 The News Journal, July 24, 2007, DuPont, UD to Partner in Solar Consortium. 6 Union of Concerned Scientists, 2007 Northeast Climate Change Impact Report. www.climatechoices.org7 NALEP and Smart Growth Leadership Institute. Smart Growth is Smart Business. Pg. 5, 2004.8 Coalition for Smarter Growth, “The Effects of Sprawl & Poorly Planned Development,” available at:

http://www.smartergrowth.net/issues/landuse/sprawl/effectsofsprawl.htm.9 Urban Land Institute, Higher Density Development – Myth and Fact, 200510 Peter Calthorpe, Michael Corbett, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Moule, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Stefanos Polyzoides, The

Ahwahnee Principles, 1991. http://www.lgc.org/community_design/safety.html 11 Delaware Strategies for State Policies and Spending: 5 Year Update. July 2004. p. 64.12 Delaware Strategies for State Policies and Spending: 5 Year Update. July 2004. p. 72.13 Delaware Strategies for State Policies and Spending: 5 Year Update. July 2004. p. 6.14 State of Delaware, Farmland Preservation Program. (http://www.state.de.us/deptagri/aglands/lndpres.shtml ) 15 Delaware Transit Corporation’s 2003-2009 Business Plan, http://www.dartfirststate.com/reports/03-09/ 16 Delaware Transit Corporation’s 2003-2009 Business Plan, http://www.dartfirststate.com/reports/03-09/ 17 Delaware Transit Corporation, Transitioning to Transit: Delaware’s Long Range Transit Plan for the 21st Century, 2000.18 Delaware Strategies for State Policies and Spending: 5 Year Update. July 2004. p. ii.19 The 2005 Urban Mobility Report, Texas Transportation Institute, D.L. Schrank, T.J. Lomax, May 200520 http://www.state.de.us/finance/publications/Bonds/2005D.pdf21 http://www.kauffman.org/kauffmanindex/resources/KIEA%20by%20State%200506%20-%202006%20Table%209.xls22 http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/2005/08-17ncsl.asp23 http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/2005/08-17ncsl.asp24 http://taxfoundation.org/taxdata/topic/18.html25 “Wilmington Regional Competitiveness Initiative: Regional Innovation Assessment, December 15, 2003,” p. 5 (based on patents

per 10,000 workers)26 “Wilmington Regional Competitiveness Initiative: Regional Innovation Assessment, December 15, 2003,” pp. 11, 1327 “A Governor’s Guide to Strengthening State Entrepreneurship Policy,” NGA Center for Best Practices, 2004, p.4, at

http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0402GOVGUIDEENTREPRENEUR.pdf28 “A Governor’s Guide to Strengthening State Entrepreneurship Policy,” National Governors Association, 2004, p. 429 Id. at p. 14. [DMH note: I could not find this quote in the source cited] [note this DMH note!]30 “A Governor’s Guide to Strengthening State Entrepreneurship Policy,” p. 2131 UDaily Archives32 National Governor’s Association Center for Best Practices. “A Governor’s Guide to Strengthening State Entrepreneurship Policy,”

p.22.33 Id. at 2234 University Venture Funds, DLC Playbook: http://www.dlc.org/print.cfm?contentid=25261435 “A Governor’s Guide to Strengthening State Entrepreneurship Policy,” p. 2536 Report to the Strategic Economic Council of the State of Delaware, August 2001, David J. Freschman, Honorable Jack Markell, p.

2.37 2002 State New Economy Index, Progressive Policy Index, pp. 11. 3838 “A Governor’s Guide to Strengthening State Entrepreneurship Policy,” p. 2839 “A Governor’s Guide to Strengthening State Entrepreneurship Policy,” p. 2640 Ben Franklin Technology Partners Homepage, http://www.benfranklin.org/our_impact/index.asp.41 Quoted in Jack’s Blog for Delaware, February 21, 200642 http://www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov/index.aspx43 http://www.governor.state.ia.us/news/2005/november/november1705_1.html44 AG Land Vital to Delaware’s Prosperity, Jack Markell, Delaware State News, 7/12/2002,

http://www.state.de.us/treasure/ag_land.shtml. See also, Delaware’s Vanishing Farms, Jack Markell, 9/9/2005,http://www.state.de.us/treasure/documents/2005/09-09-05-Delaware’sVanishingFarms.shtml.


116 Vision 2015, www.vision2015delaware.org 117 http://www.doe.state.de.us/news/2007/0926a.shtml 118 http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802170310 119 University of Delaware 2007.120 Opportunity Knocks 2005.121 www.unitedhealthfoundation.org/ahr2006/states/Delaware.html122 “The 36th Annual PhiDeltaKappa/Gallup Poll Of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools, Lowell C. Rose and Alec M.

Gallup, September 2004.123 “State Efforts to Evaluate the Effects of Pre-Kindergarten: 1977-2003,” Walter S. Gilliam and Edward F. Zigler, Yale University Child

Study Center, April 19, 2004.124 “Governors Push Access to Pre-school,” Kavan Peterson, Stateline.org, May 18, 2006.125 http://www.minneapolisfed.org/pubs/fedgaz/03-03/earlychild.cfm 126 Opportunity Knocks 2005.127 Early Childhood Assistance Program, http://www.ecs.org/dbsearches/search_info/PreK_ProgramProfile.asp?state=DE 128 “State-Funded Pre-Kindergarten Programs: Delaware,” Education Commission of the States, www.ecs.org.129 “Delaware: Early Childhood Care and Education,” National Center for Children in Poverty, Mailan School of Public Health,

Columbia University: http://www.nccp.org/profiles/DE_profile_20.html.130 http://www.doe.state.de.us/files/pdf/ec_EarlySuccessDelawaresEarlyChildhoodPlan.pdf 131 “Public Opinion of Public Education: Quality of Education,” University of Delaware Education Research and Development

Center, February, 2007.132 Department of Education (2003). Delaware school laws 2002-2003 edition. Charlottesville, VA: Mathew Bender & Company, Inc.133 University of Delaware 2007.134 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/04/30/podcast55-high-stakes-testing-is-the-enemy/ 135 Opportunity Knocks 2005.136 http://www.doe.state.de.us/files/pdf/dedoe_unitctstatsmaps2006.pdf 137 Rising Above the Gathering Storm 2005.138 ECS State Notes: http://mb2.ecs.org/reports/Report.aspx?id=205.139 Mark Warner, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Education Week, November 17, 2004.140 “Keeping the Doors of Access Open,” Office of Management and Budget and Controller General, State of Delaware, Dover, DE,

November 28, 2006.141 http://www.sreb.org/main/EdData/FactBook/2007StateReports/Delaware07.pdf 142 Opportunity Knocks 2005.143 Opportunity Knocks 2005.144 Vision 2015 2006, http://www.vision2015delaware.org/resources/Vision2015report1-26.pdf 145 News Release, March 4, 2007. Nyc.gov.146 “Public Opinion of Public Education: Quality of Education,” University of Delaware Education Research and Development

Center, February, 2007.147 Knowledge Works Foundation, High School Initiatives, Early College: http://www.kwfdn.org/high_schools/early_college/ 148 http://www.earlycolleges.org/schools.html 149 Measuring Up 2006.150 “Losing Ground: Appendix: State Trends” The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, Washington, DC.151 SEED Scholarships, http://seedscholarship.delaware.gov/ 152 The University of Delaware ranks 71st among the top 124 universities in the United States in “America’s Best Colleges 2008,” U.S.

News and World Report: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/t1natudoc_brief.php 153 “Black Student College Graduation Rates Inch Higher but a Large Racial Gap Persists,” The Journal of Blacks in Higher

Education: http://www.jbhe.com/preview/winter07preview.html.154 U.S. News and World Report 2008.155 “Gross Domestic Product by State, 2006,” Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC.

The Healthy Americans Act and Other Options for Reform," June 26, 2007.http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=506778

81 Families USA, Paying a Premium: The Added Cost of Care for the Uninsured,http://www.familiesusa.org/assets/pdfs/Paying_a_Premium_rev_July_13731e.pdf

82 Gov. Minner’s proposed tax increase would bring Delaware’s tax to $1/pack, less than surrounding states. Delawareonline.com,1/19/07, http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070119/NEWS/701190355/1006, and Campaign for TobaccoFree Kids, 11/17/06, http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0097.pdf

83 Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, July 2007, http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0148.pdf. 84 Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, July 2007, http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0148.pdf. 85 J Lambrew. A Wellness Trust to Prioritize Disease Prevention. April 2007.

http://www3.brookings.edu/views/papers/200704lambrew.pdf86 Partnership for Prevention, www.prevent.org 87 Commonwealth Fund, http://www.cmwf.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=469669&#delaware88 Kaiser Family Foundation, www.statehealthfacts.org 89 Democratic Leadership Council, Restraining Prescription Drug Costs, 2006, http://www.dlc.org/print.cfm?contentid=253949 90 Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Journal of Quality and Patient Safety, 2006,

http://www.sorryworks.net/pdf/Sorry_Works_White_Paper.pdf. 91 Kaiser Family Foundation, www.statehealthfacts.org 92 Kaiser Family Foundation, www.statehealthfacts.org 93 http://treasurer.delaware.gov/information/toolchest/index.shtml.94 http://treasurer.delaware.gov/information/toolchest/index.shtml.95 http://www.firststatesaves.org/ and AARP, http://www.aarp.org/states/de/denews/are_you_saving_enough.html?print=yes 96 Gail Kutner, AARP Knowledge Management. AARP 2006 Prescription Drug Study with Hispanics and AfricanAmericans. (April 2007), http://www.aarp.org/research/health/drugs/hisp_aa_rx.html.97 Gail Kutner, AARP Knowledge Management. AARP 2006 Prescription Drug Study with Hispanics and African Americans. (April

2007), http://www.aarp.org/research/health/drugs/hisp_aa_rx.html.98 DPAP annual report http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dmma/files/2006dpapreport.pdf 99 DPAP annual report http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dmma/files/2006dpapreport.pdf 100 DPAP, http://www.delawareuninsured.org/program_information.html 101 DPAP annual report http://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dhss/dmma/files/2006dpapreport.pdf 102 The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High-Performance Health System, “Aiming Higher: Results from aState Scorecard on Health System Performance.” (2007)http://www.commonwealthfund.org/statescorecard/statescorecard_show.htm?doc_id=495417103 The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High-Performance Health System, “Delaware: Estimated Impact ofImproving State Performance.” (2007)

http://www.commonwealthfund.org/improvementcalcs/improvementcalcs_show.htm?doc_id=496192 104 http://www.mha.org/mha_app/pressreleases/2006/6-29-06%20New%20Keystone%20Funding%20Announcement.pdf105 For brief descriptions, see http://www.premierinc.com/quality-safety/toolsservices/safety/topics/bundling/region-state.jsp106 For example, see Homes for our Troops,http://www.homesforourtroops.org/site/PageServer?pagename=SgtJasonNeilson.107 From Pink, Daniel (2005). A whole new mind: moving from the information age to the conceptual age. New York: Riverhead

Books. 108 Frank Levy, Daniel Rose Professor of Urban Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006109 Frank Levy, 2006.110 “The 2007 State New Economy Index,” Ewing, Marion, Kauffman Foundation, March 1, 2007.111 “State Profile: Delaware,” www.achieve.org.112 “Measuring Up 2006: The State Higher Education Report Card,” National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education,

Washington, DC, 2007.113 State of Education: Who Makes the Grade?,” Kavan Peterson, Pew Research Center, January 26. 2006.114 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2005). Revenues and Expenditures for Public

Elementary and Secondary Education: School year 2002-2003 (NCES 2005-353), Current Expenditures per Student.115 Measuring Up 2006,

http://measuringup.highereducation.org/reports/stateProfileNet.cfm?myYear=2006&statename=New%20Jersey&cat=LRN

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