From Carolina Journal Online:

Most of the debt is made possible through state-issued certificates of participation, a method of borrowing that does not require legislators to obtain voter approval. Interest rates are higher compared with other forms of debt, such as general obligation bonds.

That’s drawn opposition from some legislators. “We’re leaving our citizens out when they are not given the ability to vote for the general obligation and apply the full faith and credit of the state to those bonds,” said House Minority Whip Bill McGee, R-Forsyth.

Other lawmakers see the new indebtedness differently. “The contractors are hungry and the interest rates are low and we have a big new group of university students on the way,” House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, told The Associated Press. “Together with the stimulus effect, all that argues in favor with going ahead.”

Most of the COPs went to finance construction projects for universities and prisons. Among a dozen smaller allocations, this year’s debt financing included $50 million to help the Land for Tomorrow fund, operated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, to buy land for conservation purposes.

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