Karen is a senior reporter covering the Southwest. She has covered the municipal bond market for more than 30 years at The Bond Buyer and Reuters. Prior to that she wrote about futures and options markets for magazines and was an award-winning reporter for a suburban Chicago newspaper chain.
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A city-created corporation plans to issue bonds for the mass transit project, paid off with a voter-approved hike in the maintenance and operations property tax.
March 12 -
The Lone Star state, the nation's largest exporter of goods, could be hit economically by a tariff war, particularly with Mexico, its biggest trading partner.
March 11 -
Glenn Hegar, the state comptroller since 2015, was chosen as the next chancellor for the Texas A&M University System by its board of regents.
March 7 -
Ordinances pending before the city council would authorize up to $325 million of interim financing that would be refunded with fixed-rate, 30-year bonds.
March 6 -
The Texas city, which is considering an $800 million general obligation bond election next year, expects to issue nearly $400 million of debt in 2025.
March 5 -
Texas, Oklahoma, and other Southwest states would jump on the bitcoin bandwagon amid a nationwide surge in bills to invest public money in cryptocurrencies.
March 4 -
A voter-approved charter amendment requiring a bigger police force spurred Moody's Ratings to revise its outlook on the city's A1 bond rating to negative.
February 27 -
The rating agency said the one-notch downgrade, which comes ahead of a bond sale, was due to weaker operating performance and liquidity.
February 26 -
Legislation to continue a sales tax and revenue bond program until July 1, 2028, and allow its use for mall redevelopment projects, passed the Senate.
February 26 -
Issuers in the eight-state region sold $103.3 billion of bonds last year, with Texas deals accounting for $68.13 billion of the debt.
February 25 -
The unpredictable nature of legislating leads most to holding off on disclosure changes until a bill becomes a law.
February 24 -
Moody's is the latest rating agency to warn about a budget squeeze for Texas schools, which have been prolific issuers of voter-approved bonds in recent years.
February 20 -
The South San Antonio Independent School District, which has had a state conservator, will now get a state-appointed board of managers and superintendent.
February 19 -
The state will have less money to spend in the upcoming fiscal year, according to projections certified in a process criticized by Oklahoma's attorney general.
February 18 -
Texas officials are eying ways to protect a massive state-funded school property tax cut from being eroded by local bond issues and tax increases.
February 18 -
The rating for Baylor Scott & White Health in Texas was upgraded, while Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico was downgraded by Moody's.
February 13 -
The study comes as the city faces a growing structural budget deficit and shrinking reserves that led to negative bond rating outlooks.
February 12 -
Governors in the drought-prone region are asking their legislatures for funding to boost future water supply or to repair aging water infrastructure.
February 11 -
The Lone Star State is expected to add 225,000 jobs in 2025, down from 244,000 last year, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve's annual forecast.
February 7 -
A recent Texas Supreme Court decision will force the city to increase the amount of property tax revenue allocated to a dedicated drainage and street fund.
February 5
