In the 2018 legislative session, the Legislature approved a bonding bill for infrastructure projects which attempted to use Environment and Natural Resource Trust Funds to pay the debt service on appropriation bonds. The Trust Fund, which receives lottery dollars, has never before been used to pay interest on infrastructure bonds.
HF 80 corrected this problem by refinancing the projects with regular state bonding. This correction:
- enabled important infrastructure projects to begin work, including the clean-up of a contaminated landfill in Andover and a number of municipal wastewater treatment projects,
- saved the state millions of dollars because regular bonds are less expensive than appropriation bonds,
- protected the integrity of the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
The Senate approved HF 80.
