DALLAS — Oklahoma will issue $120 million of bonds to repair the state Capitol after Gov. Mary Fallin signed House Joint Resolution 1033 authorizing the debt.
"This bond issue offers a responsible way to rebuild and repair the people's house," Fallin said in a statement issued upon signing the measure May 29. "The disrepair it had fallen into was a black eye for the entire state."
The new finance mechanism comes more than six months after the Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a 2013 bill that combined capitol repair finance with a tax-cut measure. That bill violated the constitution's ban on "log-rolling" or combining dissimilar measures in a single bill, the court ruled in December.
HJR 1033 authorizes formation of the State Capitol Repair Expenditure Oversight Committee to oversee the repairs. The governor, speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate will each have three appointments to the bipartisan, nine-member committee.
Exterior work could begin late this summer or early fall, officials said. Interior work should begin next year.
Pieces of limestone have been falling off the building's exterior. Yellow barricades and scaffolding were put up in September 2011. The Capitol's plumbing and electrical systems are in desperate need of repair, said architect Duane Mass.
"This legislation comes at a crucial time for the building," Mass said in a prepared statement. "Time and decay have met to begin to erode so many of this building's critical components.
"We can now ensure a program to halt the damaging infiltration of water, evidenced by falling limestone and concrete, and to replace worn and faulty plumbing and 100-year-old wiring, which at any moment can place this critical structure out of service," Mass said. "Work on the building in the months ahead will ensure that the Capitol will provide another century of service to Oklahoma."
