Our state constitution and laws are embedded with provisions that have one simple purpose: to keep politicians and their cronies from looting the public treasury and leaving taxpayers with a mountain of debt. That’s why the legislature can include bonds in the state budget for capital projects, but the level of that bonded debt cannot exceed 10 percent of the annual tax revenues. When local governments issue bonds to build new courthouses or other facilities, they are required to get voter approval in a bond referendum.