DOVER, DE - Governor John Carney on Thursday issued the following statement on the General Assembly’s override of the veto of House Bill 282.

“For eight years, I’ve been focused on getting our fiscal house in order and protecting the interests of all Delaware taxpayers. I’m proud that we’ll leave our budget in strong shape for the next administration. In fact, we were able to turn a $400 million deficit when I took office into $400 million in additional reserves above the required Rainy Day Fund. As a result, we’ll be able to keep taxes low, prevent painful budget cuts and continue to fund important priorities for Delaware families. Unfortunately, House Bill 282 runs counter to those efforts. 

As I said in my veto statement, this bill will make it harder for state leaders to manage over $1 billion in health care expenses — roughly one sixth of our state budget. That’s not smart public policy. It puts the interests of Delaware taxpayers at risk. It could lead to higher taxes and limit our ability to give pay raises to teachers, active state employees and pensioners, as we’ve done the last several years. 

With that said, sometimes we have disagreements with members of the General Assembly. This is one of those times. I look forward to finishing this session by working together with legislators and doing as much good as we can for the people we’re fortunate enough to serve.”

Read Governor Carney’s veto statement.