Colorado

DALLAS — Colorado lawmakers expect to have an easy time of resolving differences between House and Senate versions of the $19 billion budget after both chambers passed the spending plan with surprisingly strong bipartisan support.

Colorado Springs Utilities System was on review for a possible downgrade of its Moody's Investors Service rating of Aa2 Tuesday as the city prepared to issue $106 million of revenue refunding bonds.

DALLAS — A $19 billion budget that cuts spending for prisons and provides $98.5 million of property tax relief for senior citizens goes to the Colorado Senate after winning approval in the House on Thursday.

The Colorado State University System is going to the bond market for the second time this year with an $87.7 million refunding that includes taxable and tax-exempt debt.

DALLAS — Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. may have to cover debt service payments of $1.2 million for a northern Colorado municipal district that defaulted on $25 million of bonds last December, the district indicated.

DALLAS – After rapid growth in leverage over the past five years, the Colorado State University System will have $631 million of outstanding when it sells $125.8 million of enterprise revenue bonds this week, analysts said.

WASHINGTON — As part of its initiative to gauge compliance with arbitrage requirements, the Internal Revenue Service is auditing $43.45 million of Series 2006 general obligation refunding bonds that were issued by the St. Vrain Valley, Colo., School District in April 2006 to advance refund its Series 1997 bonds.

DALLAS — Heading into a market rally that has brought yields to record lows, Denver Public Schools achieved double its targeted savings with $129.9 million of refunding bonds Wednesday.

Colorado will take bids on $230 million of education-tax revenue anticipation notes Tuesday as the legislature prepares to consider a steadily improving economy and unresolved litigation over school funding.

Primary market volume for the week appears to be less than some in the industry expected following last week's paltry pickings. But this should be positive for pricing and involve less need to unload paper.

Colorado Republican lawmakers plan to introduce a bill to restore a funding formula benefitting transportation construction that was repealed under 2009 legislation.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper plans to restore school funding after he learned that fourth-quarter revenues are running $231 million ahead of projections.

A ruling that Colorado's school funding formula violates the state constitution is drawing scrutiny in several states that face similar legal challenges.

DALLAS - Colorado voters refused a tax increase that would have raised $3 billion for the state's struggling school districts Tuesday and rejected several local measures that would have provided revenue for bond issues.

DALLAS - The University of Colorado Board of Regents will have $1.4 billion of outstanding debt after this week's $203 million enterprise revenue bond issue, according to analysts.

LOS ANGELES - Fitch Ratings could cut bond ratings on the National Basketball Association, Los Angeles' Staples Center, and Denver's Pepsi Center if the NBA fails to reach an agreement with players and cancels the season.

Colorado State Treasurer Walker Stapleton and Attorney General John Suthers have filed a lawsuit in a Denver state district court to obtain beneficiary information from the board that oversees the pension fund for state workers.

Colorado Springs is remarketing $66 million of variable-rate utility refunding revenue bonds with a new liquidity provider, effective Tuesday.

DALLAS - Denver International Airport plans to take advantage of historically low interest rates with $425.9 million of refunding bonds as it pursues a major expansion.

A rural southern Colorado school district has warned state officials that its financial problems are getting near the point where it may be unable to pay its debt.