On Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth continued his criticism of the Ivey administration's decision to borrow $730 million against future tax receipts to finance the West Alabama Highway project, also known as the West Alabama Corridor.
Ainsworth has been critical of the method of funding that does not utilize any federal matching, and he vowed on FM Talk 106.5's "The Jeff Poor Show" to keep fighting to undo the "damage" that would be done by a 20-year bond.
RELATED: Ainsworth: The West Alabama Corridor 'the biggest abuse of taxpayer funding in Alabama's history'
“This is the largest project in the state's history, using all state dollars with no federal money," Ainsworth outlined. "And you've got to ask yourself, does this project have the merit to have that much money attached? Is it going to be over a billion dollar project? And we're leveraging ourselves, borrowing money for the next 20 years. I just don't think it's wise. I mean, do I think you could do the project on a 90-10 match? According to what I was told, it qualified under the Biden infrastructure plan on a 90-10 match. OK? Let's say it was 80-20. Still, the state comes out. ... Even if it takes two or three years longer, who cares? I mean, that's not an area of any growth right now."
The lieutenant governor hoped that the next governor, frontrunner U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn), would come in and undo the project's bond and draw down federal dollars to complete it more cheaply.
“I hope there's a way Tuberville can go in, undo the bond, or put this bond money somewhere else, and actually draw down federal dollars. Do the project. I'm fine with that," Ainsworth stated. "[T]he damage here is the bond over 20 years, and 44% of our bond capacity gone. Right? That means I'll be 64. I'm 44 now. So, before this is paid off, I'll be 64. And so, the money we got coming in, we only have 56% left to do other projects in the state. So, to everybody doesn't drive on the West Alabama corridor, here's what I want you to understand: the ALDOT director has said, 'Tough luck. We don't care about y'all,' is essentially what they've done. And it really puts the next administration, you know, which I always thought this was targeted at me, but I mean, it really puts the next administration with Coach Tuberville in a bad spot."
"So, I mean, I'm not going to be quiet on this because it's not right," he added. "And it needs to be fixed. I mean, the right thing for them to do is to say, hey, we're going to do this project, or we're going to now apply for federal dollars.”
With Tuberville and U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) both close with President Donald Trump, Ainsworth said that Alabama could "leverage" those relationships to draw down the federal spending.
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