Richard Williamson

DALLAS — Anti-Washington fervor in Tuesday’s primary helped Texas Gov. Rick Perry win the GOP nomination to run for an unprecedented third term and set the stage for the once-powerful Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison to retire from politics.

DALLAS — San Antonio yesterday priced nearly $156 million of tax-exempt refunding bonds as the city, Texas’ second largest, seeks to keep up with growth in a weakening economy.

DALLAS — In a lean budget environment, the University of Texas Board of Regents will hit the market with $700 million of triple-A rated revenue bonds this month, starting today with a $330 million issue.

DALLAS — With some misgivings, the North Texas Tollway Authority has agreed to add the $1.4 billion State Highway 161 toll road to its rapidly expanding system.

DALLAS — Arizona’s plan to build an $84 million, bond-financed spring training facility for the Chicago Cubs in Mesa faces stiff opposition, including a challenge to the constitutionality of using public funds for debt service.

DALLAS — San Antonio will play a dramatically smaller role in financing the $13 billion expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear plant under a settlement submitted for approval to the city’s utility board yesterday.

The Cherry Creek School District, one of the largest and most affluent school districts in Colorado, will go to market next week with $101.8 million of general obligation debt, including $86.7 million of taxable Build America Bonds.

DALLAS — One of the largest public-private partnerships in Texas involves transmission of electricity produced by wind.

DALLAS — Starved for revenue to fund critical city services, Phoenix is looking at which programs to preserve when a controversial tax on food goes into effect April 1.

DALLAS — Municipal bond volume in the Southwest fell 13.8% in 2009 despite issuers in the region selling nearly $12 billion of Build America Bonds.

DALLAS — JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay Texas $3.2 million for failing to warn customers about the risks of auction-rate securities, among the largest fines since the ARS market collapsed in early 2008.

AUSTIN — Not yet a year after Build America Bonds began to lift municipal debt issuance to its second-highest volume on record, issuers and brokers are finding that they must commit more time to educating potential investors who make up an increasingly diverse base of buyers, experts told The Bond Buyer’s Texas Public Finance Conference yesterday.

DALLAS — With a statewide moratorium on new private toll projects still in place after more than two years, the Texas Transportation Commission is planning a bypass around that financial barrier to leverage existing funds.

DALLAS — The Texas Department of Transportation expects to go to market this spring after gaining approval to issue up to $3 billion of general obligation bonds.

DALLAS — A court case that threatens plans for the first nuclear power project in more than three decades headed for trial after a Texas district judge in San Antonio ruled that the lawsuit by the city’s CPS Energy utility could go forward.

DALLAS — Denver will commit up to $8 million per year for 20 years to secure a $300 million federal loan for redeveloping its Union Station train terminal as a hub for an ambitious mass-transit system.

DALLAS — Amid growing financial pressure on sports and tourism tax revenue, Arizona is hoping to seal an $84 million deal to keep the Chicago Cubs spring training facility in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa.

DALLAS — The Northside Independent School District, the largest in the San Antonio area, is making plans to seek voter approval in May for $535 million of general obligation bonds to keep up with growth.

DALLAS — In the wake of a favorable Internal Revenue Service ruling in December, the Texas Board of Education last week began the process of reopening and possibly doubling the bond-backing capacity of the Permanent School Fund.

DALLAS — As he begins his last full year as governor of Colorado, Bill Ritter is providing lawmakers a roadmap to close a $1 billion budget shortfall when they open their 2010 legislative session in Denver today.