Lawmakers agree to gradual limit on state debt
The Legislature’s negotiators reached a deal Tuesday that will create a lower debt limit but won’t tie lawmakers’ hands by enshrining it into the state constitution – something a bipartisan crew in the Senate wanted but Democrats who control the House rejected.
The deal doesn’t go nearly as far as senators wanted, but it goes far enough to win their support for a robust capital-construction budget – one that includes $1.1 billion in bonds.
That’s several hundred million dollars less than the previous bond proposals on the table but much more than had been contemplated by the Senate as the debt issue turned into an impasse. Senators threatened to withhold most bonds without a debt deal.