The state of Oklahoma has been ordered by a federal appeals court to pay the federal government 60 million dollars for a 1974 water deal that went sour in southeaast Oklahoma. Until 2004, Democrats had controlled the House for the past eighty years, and they currently control the Senate. The state admits it owes the money but blames the legislature for not appropriating the money. Makes sense when you remember this is the same party that doesn't want to return a portion of the surplus back to the taxpayers.
(AP) (excerpt) A federal appeals court says the state of Oklahoma must pay (m) millions of dollars to the federal government for Sardis Lake and its water supply.
The debt has been estimated at 60 (m) million dollars.
The government built the lake near Clayton in southeast Oklahoma in 1974 under a contract in which the state agreed to repay construction costs over 50 years and to pay for future operating costs.
State officials admit the contract is valid, but say it's not enforceable until the Legislature appropriates money to pay it.
Posted at 6/13/2006 08:04:00 AM
