Okla. (KXII) – Oklahoma Senator David Bullard’s Senate Bill 92 would set aside half a billion dollars for water and wastewater infrastructure projects across the state.
“You’re talking about an aging infrastructure of water everywhere you go – every town, every county,” Bullard said.
Those problems are even present here in Texoma.
Just this week, News 12 told the story of people in Colbert going hours and even days without water.
Bullard said these local examples are just symptoms of a bigger problem.
“That’s not something happening because Durant’s doing it wrong, or Bryant County’s doing it wrong, it’s just because water infrastructure is so expensive that it has created a problem all the way around the state,” Bullard said.
That’s why he said he wrote Senate Bill 92 which would allocated $500 million dollars specifically for water and wastewater infrastructure projects all over Oklahoma.
“We would not raise a single dime in taxes,” Bullard said. “We would use excess cash that we have leftover in our savings. We have about $4 billion dollars.”
That funding would allow the Oklahoma Water Resources Board to offer low-interest loans so counties can upgrade and replace their aging infrastructure.
Especially smaller, rural communities that have been kicking the can down the road for years.
“I actually reserved 50% of the funds to be spent in populations of less than 30,000,” Bullard said.
Last year, the bill stalled right at the end of the legislative session but Bullard said he’s confident they can find a compromise this year.
“I think more senators and republicans have heard from their people,” Bullard said. “They’re hearing that you had better get it right this time … I think we’re going to get somewhere with it.”
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