For Immediate Release: May 8, 2012
Sen. Jim Wilson
Wilson: Jolley effort to build medical examiner’s facility
in Edmond clouds bond rating for colleges, universities
Sen.
Jim Wilson today said an effort by Sen. Clark Jolley to build
a new medical examiner’s facility in his Edmond district
has triggered the request of an opinion from the Attorney General,
and has clouded the bond rating of every institution of higher
education in Oklahoma.
Wilson said Jolley attempted to circumvent the normal appropriations
or bonding process by adding the $42 million capital expenditure
to the Real Property Master Lease Program. The program was designed,
Wilson said, to allow colleges and universities to make capital
improvements such as roof repairs.
“Because of Jolley’s effort, Senator Patrick Anderson
properly thought it appropriate to ask the Attorney General for
an opinion regarding the legitimate use for the master lease program,”
said Wilson, D-Tahlequah. “While waiting for the Attorney
General to rule, the bond oversight council thinks it is prudent
to suspend the sale or refinancing of any bonds on the master
lease list. Until the cloud is removed, the market may not be
receptive to a bond sale.”
Wilson noted the alternative for financing is the passage of a
resolution allowing the individual universities to offer their
own bonds. This method will be far more costly because the universities,
with the exception of the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma
State University, do not have a bond rating as high as that of
the master lease program, he added.
“We’re finding out that Sen. Jolley’s attempts
to cheat the system will not be without their costs,” Wilson
said. “It’s my belief that attempting to issue the
bond through the Master Lease Program was a clear effort to bypass
the Legislature. The unintended consequences may be more than
anyone bargained for.”
