US Wind Farm Project: Of No Benefit to Delaware

By: Jane Brady, Chair, A Better Delaware

Recently, a lot has happened in the world of energy, and especially, in the world of offshore wind.

As you may be aware, US Wind has proposed an offshore wind project for the State of Maryland, that has been supported by the Maryland legislature. The citizens of Maryland, particularly the Eastern Shore, are not so sure. When no town or county in Maryland would allow US Wind to bring the transmission lines from the towers in the ocean ashore in Maryland, Governor John Carney offered part of our Seashore State Park, at 3Rs Road as a siting location.  US Wind then proposed to bring the transmission lines from the towers to a substation on the Indian River Bay by running the lines under the beach, Route 1, the Bay and through the wetlands to a substation they proposed to build on the shore next to the existing power plant.

As a result of the Governor’s decision to engage with the project, US Wind made application to the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) for permits to enter the beach area and establish connections underground there and to take the transmission lines under the Bay and through the wetlands.  On December 9, Secretary Garvin announced the permits had been granted. Litigation is being filed with the Superior Court and before the Environmental Appeals Board to challenge those permits for a number of reasons, including that the permits did not include information required by law and regulation, were not complete, and the public did not get to review and comment on much of what the Secretary considered in making his decision.

A week later, a matter relating to the US Wind Maryland Project (as US Wind has titled this proposal) was before the Sussex County Council.

To build the substation, US Wind needed approval from Sussex County to authorize a zoning change to allow for a conditional use of the parcel.  This week, Sussex County Council denied US Wind’s request. The Commissioners (4-1) ruled that there are no or few benefits to Sussex County (no jobs, no electricity, etc.) and yet Sussex County assumed all of the burden and liability for the destruction of our ecology. The Indian River Bay is one of the top 20 most important estuaries in the country.
The implications of drilling under our Bay, putting huge electromagnetic fields in the waters where fish and clams spawn, and into this unique aquatic habitat are significant and even DNREC concedes the damage to the Bay will be permanent. Both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service recommended against going under the Bay.  It is anticipated that US Wind will appeal that decision.

There is also, of course, a lot of speculation about the future of offshore wind at the national level that may affect this, and other projects.

This project is entirely intended to benefit Maryland.  US Wind needs to find an alternative to coming into Delaware to then take the electric generated by the project to Maryland customers.  Maryland and US Wind need to find a resolution to the issue, not Delaware. For US Wind, finding that resolution is the cost of doing business.

Delaware should stand strong on this issue. We gain no benefits from assuming the risk attendant to this Maryland project and should act as good stewards of the precious resources we possess that are important to more than just Delaware’s citizens – they are important to the region and the country.

Jane Brady serves as Chair of A Better Delaware. She previously served as Attorney General of Delaware and as a Judge of the Delaware Superior Court.

Delaware’s Next Governor Must Declare a State of Emergency in Education

By Tanya Hettler, PhD, Director, Center for Education Policy, The Caesar Rodney Institute*

Delaware’s educational performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) peaked in 2013. Since then, proficiency scores for 4^th and 8^th grade math and reading have plummeted, underscoring the urgent need for improvements in student achievement.

Delaware is among the top ten states in the country in spending at $20,231 per student and yet has a performance ranking in the bottom five states on the NAEP at 46 out of 50.

This poor performance exists due to the influence of a Delaware “Iron Triangle” consisting of:

• The legislative and executive branches, including the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE)
• The Delaware State Education Association
• The district administration and school boards

These policy-making groups have resisted meaningful education reform for decades. Delaware’s education system is in a serious crisis and requires emergency intervention–an issue that started well before the COVID-19 school closures.

Shortly, we will elect a new Governor of Delaware. To make the needed reforms, the Governor should declare a State of Emergency in Education and order the implementation of a four-part program as described below:

 I. Accelerate the “Science of Reading” Implementation: The Evidence-Based Reading Bill (passed in 2022) requires all districts to fully implement Science of Reading instruction by 2028. This implementation date should be moved forward to 2025. Delaware is behind other states in fully implementing a Science of Reading curriculum. This change is critical to ensuring that Delaware students learn to read now.

I I. Require Reading Proficiency for Promotion to 4^th Grade: As has been successfully implemented in Mississippi, Delaware needs to require that students be able to read at grade level in order to move from third to fourth grade. In kindergarten through third grade, students learn to read. In fourth grade and beyond, they read to learn. If they are promoted to fourth grade without being able to read, it puts the student at a significant disadvantage, leading to struggles throughout the rest of their education and life.

III, Grant Superintendents Authority Over Spending: The DDOE contracted with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to assess Delaware’s public school funding system. This report, released in December 2023, assessed what would be necessary for the state to provide an equitable and adequate education for all students.

I disagree with the AIR recommendation to increase education funding. Delaware is already in the top ten states in spending and yet performs 4^th from the bottom in outcomes.

NOTE: The per-pupil spending amount used in the AIR study was $17,000 while the actual spending was $20,231, which is an increase of more than $3,000 per student. If this amount is multiplied by the total number of students in the state (142,000), this amounts to $426 million, which is nearly the amount the AIR study recommended for increasing spending and yet produced no improvement in outcomes.

Additionally, a common complaint of superintendents in the AIR study was the inability to reallocate funds once assigned by the DDOE. The current patchwork funding system includes a main funding formula and multiple side formulas that allocate staff and funding, each with its own formulas and rules. This dramatically limits how these funds can be spent for the benefit of the students.

Superintendents should have the authority to reallocate funds based on immediate student needs, rather than being constrained by outdated and rigid formulas.

IV. Restore Preventive Discipline Measures: Since the passing of SB 85 in 2018, which encouraged the use of restorative justice, the occurrence of discipline problems and violence in Delaware schools has increased. Delaware must return to preventive discipline measures that impose consequences on students, such as in-school detention. Restorative justice can be helpful when applied to first offenders. It generally is not effective when dealing with chronic offenders.

To address this crisis, Delaware’s next Governor must declare a “State of Emergency in Education” and swiftly implement the “four-part program” mentioned above.

Without immediate action, Delaware risks failing another generation of students and jeopardizing the future of our state’s educational system.

*Originally published by the Caesar Rodney Institute on October 28, 2024.

Delaware’s State Tax Competitiveness: On the Wrong Track

By: Jane Brady, Chair, A Better Delaware: A Road Map For Improvement.

Delaware’s taxes are hurting our competitiveness. Our corporate and individual income taxes are having a negative influence on the expansion of our workforce, the development of new businesses and the bedrock of our state’s revenue – corporate filings.

We are the seventh worst state in the nation in which to form a business and have the worst corporate tax rate in the country.  We recently adopted a law that would put government supervision over non-profit and hospital budgets.  Only one other state in the nation has tried that, with terrible results.  We have adopted mandates that go against a majority of the citizenry’s preference and do not comport with current science.  And, we have multiple layers of regulation that stifle business initiation and development.  We are seeing the results of our policies.

From 2021 through 2023 we saw a drop of 10% in the filing of new business formations with our Department of State, Corporations Division.  As a result of a high-profile dispute with our Chancery Court, a specialty business court, Elon Musk has advised businesses to leave Delaware and took steps to remove three of his own companies from Delaware.

Business regulations and a shift in social attitudes in the General Assembly and state administrative agencies has been noted by even the Wall Street Journal. A recent article in that publication drew an analogy to the trust industry, once thriving in New Jersey, and noted how that state lost its standing as the place to formulate trusts.  Delaware ‘s reputation as the place to incorporate, which took great vision and decades to establish, is fading or at least at risk.

The Brookings Institute published an abstract on the impact of changes to the individual income tax rates in states, and how it affects long-term economic growth. They found out that the structure and financing of tax changes are critical in achieving that growth and that lower income tax rates encourage people to work, save and invest.

Our General Assembly is on the wrong track, leading Delaware down a path from which it may not recover. While the General Assembly should not, but can, be irresponsible, the Governor must take the big picture approach to our state’s future standing and solvency. We encouraged out incumbent Governor to do just that, without success. Let us hope the incoming Governor will give consideration to the long-term harm our current policies could have on our long-term prosperity and take the leadership role necessary to assure our workforce, small businesses and state services can meet the needs of our citizens.

Jane Brady serves as Chair of A Better Delaware. She previously served as Attorney General of Delaware and as a Judge of the Delaware Superior Court.