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RALEIGH – The Senate finance committee advanced a bill Tuesday that would allow the state to go an additional $450 million in debt.

The money would be used to enhance engineering programs at several state colleges and universities.

“Sending this money to our engineering schools is going to be the wave of the future,” says Sen. Tony Foriest, D-Alamance County.

Foriest is co-sponsoring the Build North Carolina's Future Act with the idea that lawmakers need to spend money to make the state's economy stronger. It's narrow enough to target a specific investment into state engineering schools.

Supporters say the bill would ultimately help the economy by training more engineers for the state's workforce. They also say it would allow for future savings for the state because these improvements could cost up to 30 percent more in the future. Supporters argue it should be done now because the state has the ability to borrow the money under its current AAA bond rating.

N.C. State would be one of the institutions to gain from this bond. It says allowing its engineering school to grow would ultimately benefit the state.

“We've created the type of economy that engineering graduates can prosper in,” says N.C. State Chancellor Randy Woodson. “We've moved to a point now where we're returning more of the talent that graduates from N.C. State in North Carolina than we're exporting.”

But with the tough financial situation the state finds itself in, some lawmakers are questioning whether this bond bill truly is good for the economy.

“Folks, we are looking at a $3 billion hole next year, and we're talking about borrowing more money,” Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham County, said. "That is going to increase that hole next year by $18 million to $20 million.”

Supporters say the state can't afford not to borrow all this money, even though it would cost the state around $330 million in interest over the next 20 years to pay off.

In the end, the committee voted to advance this bill to the full Senate for consideration.