Legislation to bar state General Fund debt from exceeding 6 percent has been approved by the full Senate.

Republican Sen. Joe Bowen of Owensboro has been pushing the measure since last year when a similar measure passed the Senate but died in the House.

The Senate voted Thursday 38-0 to pass the measure. It now goes the House where it faces a shaky future.

Bowen said Kentucky now has $6.3 billion in debt. That, he said, equates to $14,589 in debt for every man, woman and child in the state.

Bowen said Kentucky lawmakers need to do the right thing by putting a limit on the Legislature's credit card.