A 2011 bill transferring $101.7 million from a highway transportation revolving fund into the general fund was constitutional, Oklahoma solicitor general Patrick Wyrick contended last week in a hearing before a state Supreme Court referee.
The transfer authorized by SB 976 is being challenged by Jerry Fent, an Oklahoma City attorney, as a violation of the constitutional prohibition against combining several issues into a single bill.
To compensate the highway department for the loss of the funds, the Legislature authorized a $70 million bond issue to continue the agency's eight-year road and bridge replacement program.
The Supreme Court in June declined to hear Fent's claim that the transfer was unconstitutional because it diverted tax revenue dedicated to highway purposes into the general fund.
Wyrick said Fent should have raised his current challenge in the earlier suit.
"I don't think we should be here," Wyrick said during oral arguments before court referee Barbara Swimley. She will issue a report to the court, which will decide whether to hear the case.
