Oklahoma lawmakers' attitudes about bond issues need to change

In those days, Democrats seemed to understand that paying for and maintaining infrastructure with bond issues was a responsible use of taxpayer money. Bonds allow states to raise the amount of money needed to pay for those repairs or upgrades, and to borrow the money at affordable interest rates.

Oklahoma's bonded indebtedness is very manageable — indeed, the state could use more of it to further drive down borrowing costs. Rating services have made this clear to state leaders a number of times through the years.

Yet Republicans in both chambers, but particularly in the House, have come to equate responsible bonded indebtedness with the sort of irresponsible deficit spending coming out of Washington, D.C. In their view, all debt is bad, period. Apparently none of them carries a mortgage or a car payment, and they pay for every repair or remodeling project with cash, up front.

This aversion to bond issues has resulted in the overwhelming rejection of proposals to use this method to repair the Capitol building or replace the state medical examiner's office. Each project is badly needed. The Capitol plumbing is a disaster. Parts of the building's exterior are now cordoned off by yellow tape to ensure visitors aren't struck by falling pieces of the facade. The ME's office lost its national accreditation a few years ago, a truly embarrassing occurrence, and it won't be able to regain it while housed in its current building, which is old and crowded.

Many Democrats in the House voted last session against using a bond issue to pay for improvements to the Capitol. Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, recently assured Oklahomans that the opposition will continue in 2013 because, “We think that the Legislature ought to pay as you go instead of driving our state into further debt.”