Legislative Update, November 7, 2022

Legislative Update, Week of November 7, 2022 

The General Election is Tuesday,  November 8! 

The General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 8. A list of all candidates on the ballot in Delaware can be found at https://elections.delaware.gov/services/candidate/genl_fcddt_2022.shtml.. 

• Early voting is available this year.Should you choose to vote early, there are sites in all three counties. Early voting begins on Friday, October 28. Information on early voting locations and hours can be found at https://elections.delaware.gov/information/elections/votinglocations.shtml#ev-sites. 
   
• If you choose to vote at the polls on election day, you can look up your polling place at the following link https://ivote.de.gov/VoterView. 
   
• Information on voting by absentee ballot can be found at https://elections.delaware.gov/services/voter/absentee/index.shtml 
   

Contact information for the Department of Elections in Dover, and in all three counties, can be found at https://elections.delaware.gov/locations.shtml

ctober Jobs Report:

The US economy added 261,000 jobs in October, about 60,000 more than economists had expected, but down from the 315,000 in September (revised). October marked the lowest new job figure since December 2020.

 

Unemployment increased from 3.5% to 3.7%, still very low.  There are nearly two open jobs for every jobseeker.

GDP

Real GDP increased at an annualized rate of 2.6% in the third quarter. That follows two quarters negative growth: -1.6% in Q1 and -0.6% in Q2. The increase in Q3 is primarily attributable to increases in exports and consumer spending which were partly offset by a decrease in housing investment. 

Inflation

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased by 0.4% (Bureau of Labor Statisics).

• Food for home consumption increased in price by 13% on an annualized basis.
• Food away from home increased by 8.5%. 
• Energy Commodities increased by 19.7%.
• Energy Services increased by 19.8%

The U.S. Department of Labor’s overall consumer price index for September indicates that inflation has increased to 8.2% over September 2021.

Core inflation, excluding energy and food, is at a 40-year high. The U.S. Department of Labor’s core consumer price index rose to 6.6% in September, the largest increase since 1982. The month-over-month increase from August was 0.6%. 

Core services pricing rose 9.9% versus September of last year. The Social Security Administration has announced a benefits increase of 8.7% for 2023. A slight inflationary effect is expected from the Social Security increase. 

Grocery prices have increased by 13% relative to September of last year. This was exacerbated by a 30.5% increase in the cost of eggs and a 24.2% increase in the price of flour and mixes. 

Interest Rates: In September, the Federal Reserve implemented its fifth rate increase since March, by increasing the benchmark federal funds rate by 0.75% bringing it into a range between 3% and 3.5%. More rate increases are on the horizon as the Fed continues efforts to stem inflation.

A massive expansion in the money supply arising from trillions in additional federal spending during the pandemic, strong consumer demand post-lockdown, supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine and its effect on energy supplies and grain prices, and pre-existing inflationary pressures have combined to create the most inflationary environment since the recession of 1982.

The Federal Budget

Since Congress did not pass a budget package for FY 2023on or before September 30, the federal government is currently funding via a continuing resolution. After the mid-term elections, Congress, in a lame duck session, will need to pass a budget package or another continuing resolution by mid-December.

On September 30, the end of the federal fiscal year (FY 2022), Congress passed, and President Biden signed, a continuing resolution funding the federal government at FY 2022 levels through December 16.The CR also included $12.3 billion in funding for Ukraine. 

In early April, the Biden Administration released its full FY 2023 budget request with a base discretionary funding request of $1.582 trillion, which is a 7.4% increase over FY 2022. The overall proposed budget request came in at $5.8 trillion with a $1.2 trilliondeficit.

Work began on marking up budget bills in June.

Congress is supposed to pass a budget resolution to set out basic principles by April 15 each year. However, one was not adopted for FY 2023.  

• Instead the House of Representatives used a process known as “deeming” which allowed the House Appropriations Committee to begin their work assuming adherence to an overall spending level set forth in a resolution passed in June.  
   
• The Senate has not yet considered a deeming resolution.  However, the Senate Appropriations Committee released its spending bills at the end of July. 
   
• Republicans have argued that proposed non-defense discretionary spending is too high and defense spending is too low. 

The deadline to pass a budget package or another continuing resolution to avoid a shut-down is December 16.