Infrastructure bill was needed by state

Here’s why a very vocal minority was dumb not to pass the infrastructure bill. A surprisingly large number of people don’t know how money works. It was mindless obstruction.

Infrastructure is good for economies... Small business, large, etc. And in the eastern part of state improvements are very much needed. Needed in our part of our state too, but not so much. (One must keep in mind however the boom-and-bust cycle of extraction industries when making long-term decisions. We don’t want to end up overspending for infrastructure which 20 years from now will be vastly over done.)

The money: One has to be careful and smart about getting in too much debt. Also there should always be a check on too much government spending. Ebbs and flows. The bill before the House was a compromise... I preferred the governor’s first version.

Here’s how in-state government bonds work: The interest is tax-free federal and state, for the buyers (of the bonds). This allows the state to sell with an interest rate below the regular interest rate at time the bond are sold. Our state has a high bond rating, so debt is cheap. The state can then invest its surplus and actually make a profit on the deal. A net plus for taxpayers. The state at expiration of bond has to pay back the original amount borrowed. It’s not affected by the traded capital value of bond at time. 

If the expense is taken directly out of surplus funds, there’s no gain. And if the state is faced with emergency spending caused for example, by a bigger than anticipated fire season, the reserve dwindles, causing an increased likelihood it will slip into debt. Even families, if they are able to, should have a rainy day fund. —James How, Kalispell