Gov. Matt Meyer is proposing a 50-cent-per-pack cigarette tax increase, projected to generate $8 million, and a tax on other tobacco products, estimated to garner $5 million. The revenue increases are part of a plan that includes state worker pay raises, investments in affordable housing and more funds for Medicaid. Do you like what Gov. Meyer outlined in his $6.58 billion budget?
While I mostly agree with Gov. Matt Meyer’s budget, I wonder if raising money off tobacco products is viable. I just don’t think we should try to raise money off products that we try to encourage people to stop using. Polls have said that smoking has declined with our younger generation. So, here’s my idea. While meant partly in jest, I think it could work: a hamburger tax. Wait. Stop laughing. Americans consume 50 billion burgers a year. McDonald’s sells 75 burgers a second! Nearly 60% of sandwiches sold worldwide are burgers. Think of all the burgers sold in Delaware. A lot. So, instead of counting on just smokers to raise money, let’s hit up a bigger part of the population to do so. I don’t mean bigger as in size. Today, it’s burgers. Then, we go after pizza. — Stan Sipple
Let the new governor announce how many illegal immigrants are using Medicaid in the state of Delaware. How many people on Medicaid are able to work and get jobs that have health benefits? Just raising taxes isn’t the answer; that is what New York, New Jersey and California have done. Many of the people from New York and New Jersey have moved to Delaware and haven’t changed their voting habits — John Drennen
The new budget proposal is the typical tax-and-spend approach we have seen over and over again. It’s so disappointing to see the lack of spending discipline. Lastly, the emergency funds should be kept as reserves, not used to increase spending. — Pete Peno
Quit screwing around with legal weed and open sales. You will have more money for this expensive budget. — Crystal Hamilton
It wouldn’t matter if they continue to spend more than they take in. They need to do a real budget and see where all the money is going. — Christine Barnes Smith
I may be wrong, but were we not told many moons ago that, if we let gambling come to Delaware, the schools would be completely funded from all the people who would visit? It seems to me they said schools and benefits for older adults. Where did that get to? — Linda White Lane
No, I do not agree with the budget. We’re going to have higher property taxes, and higher electricity rates have already hit. Gas is too high already, which makes heating costs high already. We are being gouged. Going to the grocery store the past year has been hurting everyone. Prices are too high. And money going toward affordable housing is one I don’t understand. Who gets those funds? You can’t buy anything new around the Middletown/Odessa/Townsend area for under $500,000. — Tracy L. Thomas
A 50-cent tax per pack on each pack of cigarettes? Who smokes cigarettes anymore? Which demographic will actually be paying this tax? The emphasis should be on reducing the unnecessary spending, which is out of control. — Ellen Hart Richardson
As I do not smoke, I do not care what the prices of cigars and cigarettes are. But maybe the “governor” would be liked better by the people if he canceled some of the road projects that just don’t need to be done or finally put time frames on the ones that were supposed to be done three years ago. — Kyle Hendrix
I do not like his plan! Higher property taxes probably, when everything else is sky high. Didn’t state workers recently get a raise? — Dorothy Owens-Sciarra
Why $500,000 for a no-cellphone policy in schools? Why does it need to cost a dime? Just create a policy and enforce it. Some school districts already do this. The taxpayers would like explanations for some of these ridiculous line items that ultimately we pay for. I’m tired of being taxed to death! — Melissa Galyean-Clarke
The tax brackets are very worrisome. No tax increase for below $135,000. New brackets, but it does not say if that is married or single. I’m guessing married, but now, our home income is punished for being married? This is why people don’t get married, and the family unit is destroyed. Paying fair share? How is it fair that people apply themselves to increase education and promotions to get robbed? My household worked 25 years to make $126,000 a year and has sacrificed a lot to get to this point. Cut the budget and stop overspending! The governor’s math is not working for my checking and savings. And, if he cared, he would see that it’s not working for anyone to run our state savings out in a few years, either. How is he a businessman and math teacher? Matt Meyer, your new math is not mathing. — Tiffany Isabella Demi
The majority party leadership in Delaware is very disappointing at best. I dislike that our governor is OK with spending more money than the state is expected to take in. He is fiscally irresponsible. If this is the tone he is setting for his term, I hate to see where Delaware is at the end. — Mike Marasco
I’ve got it! Make all the people who voted for him come up with the money and leave the rest of us alone! And why is it going to cost so much to keep cellphones out of schools? All they have to do is inform the parents that any child who is caught with a phone will be suspended indefinitely from the public school system. I bet, when parents have to homeschool or pay for a private school, that the problem will resolve itself. It seems like the only time parents step up and do something about their children’s behavior is when you hit them in the pocketbook. — Nancy Retkowski Cushman
