Kansas

Texas emerged as the top state in bond volume in the first half of 2014 as issuance across the Southwest rose 1.9% compared to the same time last year, data from Thomson Reuters shows.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Kansas to AA from AA-plus and retained a negative outlook Wednesday, citing budget imbalances in the wake of controversial income tax cuts.

The largest city in Kansas will issue $73 million of general obligation bonds to finance road, bridge and highway improvement projects.

After three months of falling below projections, Kansas revenues rebounded in July, officials said.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a frequent critic of federal spending, is urging Congress not to cut funding for military bases in the Sunflower State.

The Kansas Public Employees Retirement System is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for its pension disclosure practices, a probe that began in 2010, according to a KPERS spokeswoman and bond documents.

Kansas Public Employees Retirement System has crossed the 60% funding threshold for its pension fund with strong investment returns.

The Kansas Department of Transportation will bring $250 million of new money revenue bonds to market for major construction projects under its T-Works program.

Kansas ended its fiscal year June 30 with revenues running $338 million below projections, officials said.

Kansas is not the only state to experience a steep drop in income tax revenue in May, but Democrats and Republicans draw dramatically different conclusions about the cause.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Topeka's Shawnee County Unified School District 501 as the district prepared to issue the first $118 million of bonds approved by voters April 8.

Amid environmental upgrades of a coal-fired power plant, the unified governments of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., took a Moody's downgrade on $186.5 million of utility bonds.

Moody's Investors Service lowers the University of Kansas to Aa2 in the wake of its downgrade of the state government.

Bond proposals saw mixed results in eastern Kansas school district elections May 6.

Some of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback's former aides are under investigation by the FBI for influence peddling related to the state's $3 billion Medicaid program, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

Kansas State University is launching a $65 million redesign of the north end zone of its Bill Snyder football stadium, the third phase of an expansion plan announced in 2010.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Kansas' issuer rating to Aa2 from Aa1 on April 30, citing the state's weak economy and piecemeal approach to balancing the state budget.

Kansas has received $62.2 million in its annual tobacco settlement payment, according to Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Kansans are getting mixed messages on the impact of tax cuts that have reduced the state's revenues.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says legislators should fully comply with a court order to equalize funding between wealthy and poor schools even though it requires "significant" new spending.