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California is building. Same with New Jersey and Michigan.

So where’s Oregon in the Build America Bonds program? Waiting for a better deal.

The tiny Dayton School District is the only agency in the state to use the program, part of the federal stimulus package, so far. Superintendent Janelle Beers said the district will save $1.3 million by using the new bonds, compared to traditional tax-exempt bonds.

Beers said she was wary of the new program, but jumped in because it would save the district money. “I didn’t know what I was getting into when we started,” Beers said. “We wanted to make sure it was a program that would stick around.”

But state officials haven’t seen a deal they like yet. “For a variety of reasons, (Build America Bonds) didn’t look like a particularly attractive deal to me this spring,” said Laura Lockwood-McCall, director of the debt management division for the Treasurer’s office.

Build America Bonds come with limits on refinancing, Lockwood-McCall said. And corporate buyers need to be convinced that the new bond product is a safe and wise purchase.

Oregon wouldn’t be on the “bleeding edge” of the program, Lockwood-McCall said. “There are pioneers and settlers,” she said. “We’re happy to be settlers.”

With plenty of pioneers out there – more than $17.4 billion in Build America Bonds have been issued nationwide – Oregon could join the settling party. The state could use the bonds for upcoming debt issues for the Oregon departments of Transportation and Energy.

“We’re not going to be the first off the block,” Lockwood-McCall said. “But we’re going to get the best deal.”