N.C. House Revises, OKs Education and Road Bond Referendum

The North Carolina House agreed overwhelmingly on Thursday to let voters decide whether the state should borrow $3.1 billion for public school, higher education and road construction.

Legislation putting the debt package question on the November statewide ballot received tentative approval by a vote of 113-4. A final House vote would occur early next week before it goes to the Senate, where Republicans remain skeptical about incurring more debt. GOP leaders at the General Assembly hope to adjourn its annual session by next weekend.

The House package is larger than a $1.9 billion proposal advanced by the chamber a year ago in similar bipartisan fashion. But the idea got set aside when Senate Republicans won out in negotiations, and their pay-as-you-go cash construction plan wound up in the final state budget. Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed that budget and no construction package was enacted.

House Speaker Tim Moore, the chamber’s biggest booster for a debt package, has said a bond package makes even more sense in 2020 given that state revenues have fallen off due to the economic downturn, making cash for construction difficult to locate. Interest rates remain extremely low, Moore said, and the projects would generate needed jobs in the state.

Cooper sought a $3.9 billion debt package last year. A statewide bond package was last approved by voters in 2016.

Thursday’s measure would allocate just over $1 billion in debt proceeds for distribution to the state’s 115 school districts, with $600 million toward 13 specific University of North Carolina system projects and $200 million toward community college projects.

The remainder would go to public transportation projects, such as road and bridge construction and renovation. The state Department of Transportation is currently in a cash crunch that has forced them to delay new projects. Local governments will need matching funds to access some education proceeds.

During a committee meeting earlier Thursday, Moore said that State Treasurer Dale Folwell said the state could afford to borrow up to $3.16 billion in general obligation debt, WRAL-TV reported.

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