Alabama voters Tuesday will be asked whether they want to spend $1 billion over 10 years for a pay-as-you-go transportation program.
If passed, the constitutional amendment would fund a statewide road and bridge program from the Alabama trust fund, which receives deposits from the state’s oil and gas royalties.
The state uses the trust fund and its earnings primarily to support the general fund.
“We believe that the amendment would make the state’s budget less flexible, since the general fund receives annual transfers of a portion of income from the trust fund,” Standard & Poor’s wrote in a special report Monday.
“However, the fund’s revenues, with or without the amendment, would continue to be subject to the performance of the oil and gas industry.”
Standard & Poor’s expressed no opinion on whether voter approval of the amendment could affect the state’s AA rating.
