Delaware's Response to Reaganomics and the New Federalism

Abstract

Delaware is one of the nation's smallest states. In land area, Delaware ranks forty-ninth, followed by Rhode Island. With an estimated population of 595,225 people, Delaware is one of the least populated states, followed by Vermont and the sparsely populated western states of Wyoming and Alaska. In part because it is so small in both land area and population size, some services that are typically provided by local governments in other states are provided by state government in Delaware. However, the level of service in Delaware is often not as high as it is in the neighboring states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Since Delaware is a small state most of its economic activity is exported or imported and is therefore highly correlated with economic activity in the nation as a whole.' Thus, the effects of national economic trends and federal policies on Delaware have been considerable. The acceleration of recessionary trends, the consequent reduction in the state's own source tax revenues, and the decline in the monetary value of federal grants (from total outlays of $313 million in fiscal 1981 to $249 million for fiscal 1982)2 have all caused some problems for Delaware's delivery of public