The Journal Record By: Janice Francis-Smith April 15, 2022
OKLAHOMA CITY – No one objected, and there was no legal reason to say no: so reads the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s stated reasoning for its decision to approve a new funding mechanism for state transportation projects. Still, one justice said he was uncomfortable with being asked to endorse an unproven process – especially if that approval could be used as legal shielding should problems later arise. At the end of the 2021 session, legislative leaders presented a budget plan, touting that they were able to make record investment in transportation and other budget priorities and still have money left over to deposit in savings. The bills to put that budget plan into action were made available for the public and other lawmakers to review just hours before they were pulled up for a vote and approved. In that stack of bills was House Bill 2896, which authorized $200 million in bonds to fund projects in the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s eight-year plan. The bill created a new law directing the Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority to issue bonds and to execute federal loans with the U.S. Department of Transportation pursuant to the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act.
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