Jim Watts

DALLAS — Members of a new Texas Senate special subcommittee were tasked Monday with finding $5 billion of savings and non-tax revenues over the next two weeks.

Texas Lieut. Gov. David Dewhurst wants state senators to look everywhere, even under rocks, to find $5 billion in savings and non-tax revenue to help cover a revenue gap of between $15 billion and $23 billion over the next two-year budget cycle.

Oklahoma general fund revenues of $247.1 million were $25.7 million more than in February 2010 and 4% more than expected, state finance director Preston Doerflinger said last week.

The Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee last week endorsed a proposed 2012 budget that would cut spending by $535 million from current levels.

The Central Arkansas Library System will hold a public meeting this week on plans to issue $32 million of general obligation bonds for system upgrades.

The Arkanas Senate Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs last week endorsed a bill that would allow cities and counties to issue bonds for development districts, with the debt supported by state sales tax revenue generated within the districts.

The Arkansas Senate last week approved a measure that would give the governor the authority to call a statewide election on up to $500 million of revenue bonds to repay federal loans for unemployment benefits.

DALLAS — The Louisiana State Bond Commission approved a staff report Thursday that set the par amount of net state tax-supported debt at $5.9 billion as of Dec. 31, 2010.

All of Louisiana’s 64 parishes will share in the first $5 million from BP’s $30 million contribution to help rebuild a tourism economy that was devastated last year by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

DALLAS — Texas will draw up to $3.2 billion from its rainy-day fund to close a revenue shortfall in fiscal 2011 under an accord approved Tuesday by Gov. Rick Perry.

DALLAS — The Arkansas House on Friday passed a bill calling for a statewide vote on a diesel-fuel tax hike to fund $1.1 billion of bonds for highway efforts.

Kilgore Independent School District voters will decide May 14 on a $55 million general obligation bond package to replace and rehabilitate aging facilities.

Texas will distribute $433.1 million of sales tax collections to local governments this month, an increase of 7.1% from March 2010. Local sales tax allocation for the first three months of the calendar year are up 7.9% from 2010.

Trustees of the North East Independent School District decided last week to postpone an election set for May 14 for a proposed $399.4 million general obligation bond package due to uncertainties over state aid to public education over the next two years.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback ordered $56.5 million of spending cuts on Friday to balance the current budget after lawmakers failed to meet his deadline for resolving the revenue shortfall in fiscal 2011.

Sales tax revenues in Tempe have climbed 13.2% since the beginning of fiscal 2011, with retail sales tax collections up 14.4%.

DALLAS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal presented the Legislature on Friday with a proposed $24.93 billion operating budget for fiscal 2012 that allocates $1.12 billion less than in the current fiscal year.

DALLAS — The Houston suburb of Sugar Land will build a 7,500-seat minor league baseball stadium with proceeds from next week’s $30.1 million competitive issue of sales-tax revenue bonds.

Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook to positive from stable on sewer revenue bonds issued by the New ­Orleans Sewerage & Water Board.

Louisiana is seeking damages of $1 million a day each from BP and other companies associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.