Jim Watts

An attorney seeking to overturn a state constitutional amendment that removed the interest rate cap on Arkansas state and municipal bonds said the measure should never have been put on the November 2010 ballot.

DALLAS - The Louisiana State Bond Commission will meet July 21 with four firms seeking to become the state's next financial adviser.

DALLAS — An audit of Harris County's finances has found questionable overpayments in transactions involving federal securities acquired or sold for the Texas county's investment portfolio.

A bill to phase out Lousiana's personal income tax over 10 years at a cost of more than $5 billion a year of lost revenue was approved Monday by the House Committee on Ways and Means.

DALLAS - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal Monday asked for consideration of an alternative, no-debt financial plan for a proposed $1.2 billion state hospital in New Orleans.

The Houston Independent School District may join in a lawsuit against Texas over inequities in the state's school finance system, board president Paula Harris said last week at a news conference.

The state sales tax generated $1.95 billion in May, Texas Comptroller Susan Combs said last week, an increase of 10% from May 2010 collections.

Harris County has recouped the final payment from more than $300,000 it sought from five law firms over unsubstantiated travel and entertainment expenses incurred in the sale of county bonds.

Trustees of Routt County School District No. RE-2 declined to set an override election for November to increase the property tax rate.

Trustees of Maricopa County Community College District will consider a plan Tuesday night to raise property taxes to compensate for an 85% cut in state aid.

DALLAS - A proposal to scrap plans for a $1.2 billion state hospital in New Orleans in favor of a smaller, less-expensive project was outlined Thursday at a joint news conference by U.S. Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy, and House Speaker Jim Tucker.

DALLAS — The plan to balance Oklahoma's $6.5 billion budget with a diversion of highway tax revenues has been challenged as unconstitutional by an Oklahoma City attorney.

DALLAS — Little Rock voters will be asked in September to approve an increase in the sales tax to generate $511 million over eight years under a plan outlined to city’s Board of Directors on Tuesday by Mayor Mark Stodola.

The proposed $1.2 billion University Medical Center in New Orleans may be built with the proceeds from bonds supported solely by hospital revenue if federal mortgage insurance is denied for the debt.

DALLAS — Texas lawmakers are expected to complete the special legislative session’s budget work on Thursday when the House will consider school finance bills passed by the Senate late last week.

Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, has filed a bill allowing Texas state colleges and universities to issue a total of $100 million of tuition revenue bonds. She said she wants to be ready to move if Gov. Rick Perry expands the bills that could be considered in the current special legislative session.

One of the last acts by the Oklahoma Legislature before it adjourned last week was the creation of a 10-member panel that will study state tax exemptions and exclusions and determine those that are no longer useful.

Revenue collections in the first 11 months of fiscal 2011 total $5.1 billion, an increase of almost $200 million from the same period last year, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said last week.

The State Board of Accountancy has dropped its investigation into whether Surprise chief financial officer Scott McCarty unlawfully claimed he was a certified public accountant in Arizona.

Arizona’s general fund revenue collections in April totaled $827 million, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee reported last week, marking the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year growth in state revenue.