The state should conduct a study each year to determine how much debt it can afford, according to the director of the Kansas Public Finance Center at Wichita State University.

Bart Hildreth made his comments during a Friday meeting of the Senate Commerce Committee, which is reviewing the state’s increasing reliance on bonds.

The value of the state’s outstanding bonds has grown from some $420 million in 1992 to almost $4 billion in 2005, with much of the increase attributed to the state’s efforts to improve its highways.

But school districts and local governments are carrying several times that amount of debt, making it a concern for groups advocating limited government, such as Americans for Prosperity.

“We need to be more vigilant and need to ration our capital appetite,” Hildreth said.