The State Senate has passed on the opportunity to go along with the Missouri House plan to authorize the sale of $150-Million in bonds to help ease the budget crisis for the remaining months of the current fiscal year. In its place, it has approved a proposal to sell revenue bonds. Senator John Russell of Lebanon sponsors the effort. He says the legislation authorizes the sale of bonds to raise $150-Million dollars for the current fiscal year and more for Fiscal Year 2004. Russell says this effort is better than the tobacco securitization effort because, he claims, it helps the state uphold its credit rating and will save the state more than $200-Million over the course of the life of the bond issue. The revenue stream for the venture would come from the state paying rent – in effect – on state-owned buildings. The House and Senate must agree to identical legislation before it can be sent to Governot Bob Holden.
