May 08, 2008 12:01 am
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The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma education officials criticized plans for a multimillion dollar state bond package Wednesday and said it makes no sense for the state to go into debt during an economic downturn.
“This is bad economic policy,” said Roy Bishop, president of the Oklahoma Education Association. “The impact is going to be huge.”
State lawmakers are considering issuing bonds to raise money for road and bridge improvements and other capital needs that were not funded in a $7.1 billion general appropriations bill that keeps most agencies at last year’s funding level.
But Bishop and other education leaders said the bond issue would create new debt for the state and jeopardize schools and state agencies that are already strapped for cash.
“We want good roads. We want good bridges,” said Keith Ballard, executive director of the Oklahoma State School Boards Association. “The quandary we find ourselves in is how do we pay for it.”
A bond issue would be the equivalent of using a credit card to pay for capital improvements, officials said. Bonds would be issued with the promise of paying them off with future state general revenue funds — money that would otherwise be appropriated to public schools and other state services.
Randal Raburn, executive director of the Cooperative Council of School Administrators, said the economic forecast for next year is no brighter than the current year and there is uncertainty about the state budget for the next couple of years. If bonds are issued, the state would have to begin paying them off next year.
“We are mortgaging our future with this type of deficit spending,” Bishop said. Officials said the state’s budget picture is gloomy because of a slowing economy and the impact of cuts to the state income tax and other revenue sources.
“This is clearly the negative impact of the $560 million dollar tax cuts,” Bishop said.
Lawmakers are discussing issuing up to $500 million in bonds for road and bridge improvements and other needs. State Transportation Department director Gary Ridley has said a dedicated revenue source should be set aside to pay off any road and bridge bonds because his agency has no surplus that can be tapped to pay off bonds.
Members of the House and Senate have discussed using some bond money for deferred maintenance of state buildings, construction of a new state Veterans Affairs building, debt to the federal government for construction of Sardis Lake and construction of the Native American Cultural Center in Oklahoma City.
“We don’t question that these might be good things,” Raburn said. But with no money to pay for the bonds, lawmakers will have to tap revenue that public schools need to pay their operating expenses.
“We are simply buying on credit and leaving Oklahoma’s children to foot the bill,” Raburn said.
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