Regulatory Reform and Strategic Innovation Are Essential for a Healthier Delaware

 By: Jane Brady, Chair, A Better Delaware  

Delaware stands at a pivotal level in its healthcare delivery. The challenges facing our state—from overburdened addiction treatment centers and long emergency room waits to persistent gaps in preventive care—demand urgent and comprehensive action. There is a critical need to rethink regulatory strategies and prioritize patient-centered solutions across the First State.

Delaware’s Certificate of Public Review (CPR) program, a regulatory hurdle that’s increasingly seen as an impediment to expanding care for those struggling with addiction. Local treatment centers are reportedly “always full,” raising the question—should the state build another facility, or should lawmakers break down barriers that restrict private providers from expanding?

Repealing the CPR program could enable private organizations to respond swiftly to rising needs, helping individuals experiencing addiction get timely access to life-saving treatment. The urgency of this reform is underscored by the mounting demand and the inability of current facilities to keep pace.

“This isn’t about micromanaging care. It’s about motivating better health,” said Brian DiSabatino, CEO of EDiS Company, Delaware’s health outcomes and healthy behaviors rank 18th worst in the nation—a sobering statistic that underscores the need for transformative thinking. DiSabatino’s viewpoint stresses the importance of a strategy that empowers residents to make healthy choices, reduces preventable illness, and treats mental health as essential, not secondary.

This shift requires more than incremental change. It calls for leadership willing to champion bold prescriptions for Delaware’s health crisis and invest in community-driven wellness programs, mental health integration, and preventive care initiatives.

While The Delaware Hospital Cost Review Board’s regulatory oversight is intended to ensure quality, excessive bureaucracy and red tape can stifle innovation and slow down the care patients need. Recent developments have seen the board halt meetings amid settlement talks, highlighting a potential shift in approach.

Reducing the review board’s authority could allow hospitals to serve patients more effectively and develop innovative solutions without unnecessary interference. Yet, several critical health benchmarks—including adult obesity, emergency department utilization, opioid-related overdose deaths, and cancer screenings—remain unmet, emphasizing the need for a more agile, outcome-driven system.

Delaware faces dangerously long emergency room wait times—the fourth longest in the nation, according to recent studies. These delays threaten patient safety and signal systemic issues in capacity and resource allocation. Expanding inpatient capacity is crucial, but current regulations, including the CPR program, restrict the development of new facilities and expansions.

Repealing these restrictive measures would help ease bottlenecks, ensuring that care is accessible when and where it’s needed most. As staffing pressures continue to mount, decisive action is needed to prevent further deterioration of emergency care.

The evidence is clear: regulatory reform, strategic innovation, and a renewed focus on both preventive and mental health care are essential to building a healthier future here in Delaware.

Lawmakers, healthcare leaders, and the community must come together to dismantle barriers, embrace bold strategies, and invest in solutions that truly put patients first. Delaware’s health crisis demands nothing less than transformative change, and the time to act is now.

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 Tax and Economic Policy: Why Transparency and Reform Matter

 By: Jane Brady, Chair, A Better Delaware  

Delaware’s fiscal landscape is rapidly changing, and recent headlines highlight why transparency, reform, and meaningful policy solutions are more important than ever. From property tax reassessments to new consumer fees and economic outlook warnings, the need for open government and innovative approaches is clear.

The requirement to conduct the recent property tax assessment did not, or at least should not, have come as a surprise. There had been many discussions over many years about the delay in conducting an assessment, and the unfairness and inequities many claimed resulted from that delay. Yet, it seems that, from selection of an assessor to reporting the results, our government failed us.

This is particularly true in New Castle County. While tax bills are usually due on September 30, 2025, they have yet to be mailed in New Castle County. There is a lawsuit pending that challenges the methodology used and property classifications. That lawsuit will delay the determination of proper tax due. Recently, in that litigation, the County admitted there have been thousands of properties that are not correctly designated commercial or residential. How a property is classified makes a huge difference in the amount a taxpayer will owe. And, of course, there are multitudes of citizens who are outraged at the increase they are facing.  In fact, there are allegations that the former County Executive, Matt Meyer, who is our current Governor, delayed sending taxpayers notice of the change in their assessed values last November to avoid that outrage when asking for their vote.  The uncertainty continues as it appears the objective of getting tax bills to the taxpayers by November is unlikely.

Tax burdens are an important component of a state’s ability to be competitive – for jobs and business as well as the quality of life – health care, education and recreation. Delaware is ranked 38^th overall among the states for economic outlook – where we are headed. One of the most significant reasons for the grim prediction? “ “personal and business income tax rates [are] some of the highest … in the country,” according to American Legislative Exchange Council President and Chief Economist Jonathan Williams. And, we are rated 48^th among states for our state tax burden by Freedom in the States, which calculates tax revenues as a percentage of adjusted personal income.

Equally important is how our government chooses to spend our tax dollars. You have read in our missives previously about the way government prompts behavior with incentives – such as the subsidies for purchasers of EVs.  Now, the government has determined that those “darling” cars aren’t using gas, a fact they could have anticipated, and so the tax revenues from the sale of gasoline is down. The solution? All EV and hybrid car owners must pay a fee for the use of the roads to make up for the tax they are not paying because they are not buying gas. EV owners will pay double what hybrid owners pay. If you are thinking, “I thought they wanted me to get an EV”, you are not alone.

Delaware is at a crossroads. The choices made today regarding property taxes, economic policy, and consumer fees will shape our state for years to come. It’s time for informed public debate, bold reforms, and a commitment to transparency—so every Delawarean can enjoy a prosperous tomorrow.

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.

The Nuclear Energy Revolution*

By: David T. Stevenson, Guest Contributor

A quiet energy revolution is underway. Closed nuclear power plants are reopening, and new small modular reactors (SMRs)-using both traditional and advanced technologies-are under development, totaling more than three gigawatts of planned capacity. These plants are projected to begin generating electricity between 2027 and 2032, and national targets aim to triple nuclear capacity by 2050.

Delaware has joined this growing national movement by adopting a resolution to form a Nuclear Energy Task Force. According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, more than 200 nuclear-related bills have been introduced this year across roughly 40 states.

Site Momentum and Public Confidence

National enthusiasm has facilitated the early siting of SMRs-especially on federal land or at existing nuclear facilities. A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) analysis identified about 394 candidate coal-plant sites (retired and operating) with existing grid interconnections.

SMRs are designed with robust safety features that, in some cases, allow smaller emergency planning zones; depending on the design and site. Many use closed-loop cooling systems that recirculate water, significantly reducing withdrawals; overall consumption varies by design. Public support is growing, though critics still raise concerns about long-term used fuel storage and radiation exposure standards.

As more sites advance, the practical question becomes how we manage the fuel cycle-especially the growing inventory of used fuel.

Turning Used Fuel into Opportunity

Here’s the overlooked opportunity:  the used fuel itself. U.S. reactors generate about 2,000 metric tons of used nuclear fuel each year, and only about 5% of utilities’ uranium purchases come from U.S.-origin material.

The current inventory of used fuel in the country is approximately 95,000 metric tons, comprising about 95% reusable uranium recoverable in certain fuel cycles. Most of the remainder is plutonium and other isotopes. Advanced reactors could consume the plutonium, and other isotopes are used in medicine so very little used fuel may wind up in long term storage.

A storage site was built in Nevada without full state approval and was never opened. Any new storage site will require support from individual state governments, as well as approval from multiple states to permit used fuel to travel across state borders.

A state developing interim and long-term storage could see meaningful economic gains–from potential payments out of the nearly $50 billion Nuclear Waste Fund, and co-locating recycling, reprocessing, and nuclear power plants.

Against that backdrop, policy is starting to catch up with technology.

Delaware’s Role in Shaping National Nuclear Policy

Policy is finally catching up with the technology. In July 2024, Congress passed the ADVANCE Act of 2024, which included amendments that I drafted. The amendments made recycling used nuclear fuel a federal priority and created an award for the first advanced reactor that could consume plutonium. The Act also directed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) a year to find ways to accelerate permit approvals to 18 months.

In June 2025, the NRC announced an 18-month timeline to permit the construction of a 100-megawatt advanced nuclear design SMR in Texas for Dow Chemical, thus meeting that goal.

In 2025, I helped establish a “used nuclear fuel” discussion team to determine key objectives for federal and state legislation to finally resolve the used-fuel challenge. The group includes key members of the nuclear industry, including legacy companies and existing public organizations, and companies directly involved in reprocessing and recycling used fuel.

From Policy to Progress

Momentum is also growing at the federal level. In May 2025, President Trump signed four executive orders that will need legislative action, including:

•  Establishing federal-state cooperation to develop interim and long-term storage facilities
• Authorizing transportation used fuel across state lines
• Authorizing to reprocess and recycle used fuel
• Establishing a federal fee structure to purchase transuranic waste for long-term storage
• Supporting advanced reactors that efficiently utilize recycled products
• Establishing a science-based radiation standards
• Adopting used-fuel take-back policies to boost international sales

These objectives are similar to the objectives developed by our discussion team. We already have interested key legislators in the U.S. Senate and House Energy committees. We also have supporters on the ground in four states likely to accept used-fuel storage: Wyoming, Utah, Arkansas and Louisiana.

At the request of a Wyoming state senator, I have drafted a model resolution to support nuclear energy and in-state used-fuel storage for the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, which includes all or parts of the 12 western states, Alberta and British Columbia, and the northern part of Baja California in Mexico.

Separately, draft federal legislation has been created and is awaiting publication. In 2026, the Department of Energy is likely to seek state proposals to host storage and used fuel recycling facilities. Once approved, states can begin constructing storage facilities to finally begin accepting used fuel from power plants as required by existing federal law.

This alignment turns discussion into action for Delaware. The state can prepare to participate to capture economic and energy gains.

 David T. Stevenson is a nationally recognized energy expert.

*This article was first published by the Ceasar Rodney Institute on August 15,2025.

Our Education System in Delaware is Broken

By: Nancy Mercante, Guest Contributor

For ten years and counting, another report about student learning shows most students fail to reach higher levels of learning as they progress through their education system. At the national level, the latest National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report about seniors in 2024 shows a decline in seniors who are proficient in reading and math. In fact, more than two-thirds of 12^th graders scored below NAEP Basic – 32% in reading and 45% in math. This is the lowest percentage since the test began in 1992. The gap between the highest- and lowest-achieving students is growing, leaving many unprepared for life after school.

Delaware’s school performance results for grades 3-8 in 2024 show no significant improvement. Only 34% of students reached proficiency in math and 41% in English Language Arts (ELA).

The performance of Delaware’s schools with single-digit proficiency was a mixed bag. Warner Elementary declined in both math and ELA from 2023, but Johnson Elementary School doubled its math proficiency in 2024 from 3.5% to 6.07% and ELA rose from 6.43% to 9.09%. The challenge for these schools is to reduce the average 30% chronic absenteeism rate. If kids aren’t in class, they aren’t learning.

To fix our broken schools, all of us need to be involved in some way to help fix them. One of our goals at Citizens for Delaware Schools (C4DS) is to recruit community members who are willing to be laser-focused on their school district’s academic achievement and set specific academic goals for their superintendent. It’s a powerful way to get schools on the right track for students.

You can learn which school board seats are up for election in 2026 at citizensfordelawareschools.org and consider running. C4DS can walk you through the process.

Nancy Mercante had a career in corporate communications for major companies in the financial, pharmaceutical and telecommunications industries. She founded Citizens for Delaware Schools, a nonpartisan nonprofit, two years ago to advocate for a better education for every student in Delaware.