Black is voting "red"
Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, said the tobacco securitization plan in this budget repair bill rivals the original tobacco settlement sell-off as the most irresponsible things he's seen the Legislature do. Black said he is voting "no" on the bill.
Black said that the provision in the budget repair plan essentially has the state assume $1.7 billion in future debt to access $209 million in cash through bonding the tobacco settlement.
Black said the provision sells off the rights to tobacco settlement cash until 2030, and puts all the risk on the state if those payments default.
He said the budget repair bill does not solve the state's fiscal problems, it just pushes them off.
"We kind of punted," he said.
Labels: Budget_Repair_Bill, tobacco securitization
