Jim Watts

DALLAS — A transportation coalition is seeking legislative sponsors for Louisiana state constitutional amendments that would raise the gasoline tax and establish a $3 billion bond program for highway efforts.

Georgia-Pacific expects to cut borrowing costs for an upgrade to a toilet-paper mill in East Baton Rouge Parish by $15 million by financing it with $300 million of Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds.

DALLAS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will eliminate a $106.8 million deficit in the $25.5 billion budget for fiscal 2011 mostly by cutting expenditures for higher education and health care.

Groups wanting to build a new high-school football stadium in the north Texas city of Sherman made presentations to school trustees last week that ranged from building a new facility to remodeling the current complex.

The Travis County district attorney’s office said last week it closed the case on allegations of political influence on investment decisions by the Teacher Retirement System of Texas earlier this year after an investigation found no criminal violations.

State tax exemptions, deductions, and credits cost Oklahoma a total of $5.9 billion in revenue each year, according to a report released last week by the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

New Mexico will have an $18.5 million revenue gap in fiscal 2011, with a $260 million shortfall on the horizon in fiscal 2012, according to a financial forecast presented last week to the Legislative Finance Committee.

The Arizona Department of Commerce last week awarded authorizations lottery-style for $29.7 million of federal recovery zone facility bonds to three private-activity projects after local governments in the state could not find qualified recipients for the tax-exempt economic stimulus bonds.

DALLAS — The Louisiana State Bond Commission allocated the state’s remaining $232.7 million of Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds Thursday to three applicants that had sought the right to issue $700 million of the tax-exempt private-activity debt.

DALLAS — Former Houston Mayor Bill White, who is challenging Texas Gov. Rick Perry for the state’s top post, said Tuesday that appointees to the Teachers Retirement System of Texas improperly funneled investments toward the incumbent’s political contributors.

Louisiana Sen. Ben Nevers, D-Bogalusa, said Monday he would support a temporary reinstatement of state income tax hikes that were repealed in 2008 if it would avoid severe budget cuts for higher education.

A constitutional amendment on the November ballot in Louisiana, if passed by voters, would transfer millions of dollars in revenue from oil and gas production taxes from the state to parishes where the energy was produced.

DALLAS — The battle lines are being drawn in Austin over the capital city’s request for $90 million of general obligation bonds for transportation as opponents ramp up efforts to defeat the proposition on Nov. 2.

Officials of the Corpus Christi Independent School District told trustees last week that projects financed with $192 million of general obligation bonds approved by voters in 2008 so far are costing about $20 million less than expected.

A recent survey by SoonerPoll.com found that voter support has fallen for an Oklahoma constitutional amendment that would raise state support of local education.

Oklahoma County School District No. 12 is asking voters to approve a request for $29.9 million of general obligation bonds in December that includes $10 million to build an eight-lane, 50-meter swimming pool. The facility would be shared with the city and the local YMCA.

New Mexico voters will decide on more than $175 million of proposed state bonds at the November election. The state general obligation bond questions are on the ballot every two years.

The 92-acre Pioneer Living History Museum in north Phoenix reopened last week following the city’s purchase of the site with $3.6 million of proceeds from $7.9 million of bonds authorized by voters in 2006.

A bookkeeping error will result in Coconino County Unified School District No. 1 over-collecting more than $1.5 million of property tax revenue in fiscal 2011 that will have to be rebated to residents in 2012.

DALLAS — New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu rolled out a $483 million operating budget for 2011 on Thursday that he said would pay for essential city services while setting strict spending limits.