SC lawmakers OK more than $270M in Boeing bonds

SC lawmakers OK more than $270M in Boeing bonds
Workers work inside sections of new Boeing 787 planes at Boeing's facility in North Charleston, S.C. Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2009.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina lawmakers want to borrow $270 million to build a new Boeing airliner assembly line in South Carolina.

The Legislature's Joint Bond Review Committee approved the bonds Tuesday morning just hours before lawmakers return for a session where they will have to fill a massive budget hole.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Hugh Leatherman says the bonds are worth issuing because Boeing's North Charleston plant will create jobs and attract other industries to the state. In the short run, the bonds will add $23 million to the state's annual debt payments.

Boeing Inc. is also getting tax breaks for the $750 million plant that it says will create 3,800 jobs in seven years.

The House and Senate kick off their January to June session at noon.