Detroit Free Press
45-cent gas tax? Less dumb than GOP's road funding plan
Matt Fabian,a partner at Municipal Market Analytics, told government finance trade publication Bond Buyer that he's neg on this plan: "Pension bonds undertaken to do things not related to pensions are the worst kind of pension bonds in that they are being deployed almost purely as a budget gimmick, adding leverage and risk to a government’s budget in exchange for a few years’ relief from tax hikes or spending cuts."
Fabian also suggested that an interest in selling pension bonds for this purpose suggested some unpleasant things about the state's financial outlook: that there could be problems with Michigan's financial flexibility, and future credit outlook — in other words, a financially healthy state shouldn't consider such a convoluted financial transaction.