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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Oklahoma is on a roll, notching its third positive rating outlook since July with the latest move coming from Fitch Ratings.
February 12 -
Children's Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center are teaming up to finance and build a pediatric health campus that includes a hospital.
February 8 -
Colorado's sole public safety net healthcare provider faces rising uncompensated care costs, driven in part by treating thousands of uninsured migrants coming from the southern border.
February 7 -
Proponents of the proposed bond-financed 86-mile railway in northeast Utah are hoping Congress or a U.S. Supreme Court review can advance the project.
February 6 -
The Texas city's project joins other efforts in Southwest states to find new water sources as supplies dwindle due to persistent drought conditions.
February 6 -
Bonds sold through conduit debt issuer Arizona Industrial Development Authority are involved in Chapter 11 bankruptcies filed over the last year.
January 31 -
With its cash balance eroding due to a budget imbalance, the university, under the watchful eye of Arizona's governor, will undergo system-wide changes.
January 31 -
The push for bills to punish companies, including municipal bond underwriters, for their fossil fuel or firearm policies continues in Arizona and Oklahoma.
January 30 -
Barclays joins UBS and Citigroup in being prohibited from underwriting state and local government bonds under Texas laws aimed at protecting the fossil fuel and firearms industries.
January 26 -
The chamber is once again refusing Gov. Kevin Stitt's call to pass an income tax cut during a special session.
January 25 -
Mayor John Whitmire expressed confidence in Melissa Dubowski's ability to guide the city through its financial challenges.
January 24 -
The rating agency said plugging a growing budget gap is "crucial" for the credit quality of the Aa1-rated state.
January 23 -
Providing care for thousands of migrants is contributing to the system's escalating uncompensated care costs.
January 23 -
The proposed bond-financed Uinta Basin Railway has been hit with regulatory setbacks in the wake of a 2023 federal court ruling.
January 18 -
Gov. Katie Hobbs' proposed fiscal 2025 budget calls for agency fund sweeps, a new eligibility requirement for a costlier-than-expected universal school voucher program, and other measures to combat a rising shortfall.
January 17 -
The Republican governor is trying once again to focus lawmakers' attention on cutting income taxes during a special session set to begin Jan. 29.
January 17 -
As double-digit revenue growth comes to an end, Southwest governors are crafting budgets to deal with the new normal.
January 16 -
A 2023 state law gave legislative leaders four appointments to the six-member turnpike board as lawmakers sought to reform the agency in the wake of a controversial, bond-financed expansion project.
January 10 -
The negative outlook on the Phoenix-based university's Ba1 rating is due in part to its battle with federal regulators, including the U.S. Department of Education, which it sued in 2021.
January 9 -
Office sectors in some Southwest cities, including Houston, are stressed due to elevated vacancy rates that may lower assessed values and property tax revenue.
January 9
