Oklahoma

A constitutional amendment would allow municipalities to approve districts that could issue bonds to finance infrastructure for housing developments.

Litigation in Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah could determine bond issuance, culpability for defaults, or the constitutionality of underwriter bans.

Water agencies in Texas, Oklahoma, and Denver are selling a combined nearly $2 billion of triple-A-rated bonds this week.

After getting positive outlooks from three rating agencies since 2023, Oklahoma received its first upgrade.

Issuers in the eight-state region sold $50.6 billion of bonds with Texas accounting for 65% of the volume.

The states and others are pushing back against studies showing adverse financial effects from laws that punish banks for their fossil fuel and firearm policies.

Concerns have been raised about audits related to nearly $2.9 billion of ratepayer-backed bonds sold for Oklahoma utilities in 2022.

Challenges to laws banning investment banks from underwriting municipal bonds and the targeting of other financial firms for divestment purposes may result from a recent Oklahoma ruling.

The state attorney general's office said it will appeal the ruling prohibiting enforcement of 2022's Energy Discrimination Elimination Act.

The city had set an Aug. 27 election on a proposition to create tax increment financing districts to help finance an arena project.

Laws enacted in Arkansas and Kansas will reduce income tax revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars in fiscal 2025.

Controversy over where to build a new jail has delayed further issuance of $260 million of voter-approved bonds after an initial $45 million sale.

A professional basketball arena costing at least $900 million moved forward in Oklahoma City with the city council's approval of a development agreement.

A state judge issued a temporary injunction against enforcement of the Energy Discrimination Elimination Act, which has led to the ban of seven financial firms, including four big municipal bond underwriters, from government contracts.

The latest revision of Oklahoma's fossil fuel "boycotter" list added Barclays, which joins three other municipal bond underwriters placed there last year.

The 2022 law, which has so far banned three major investment banks from underwriting municipal bonds in Oklahoma, could be amended to limit its reach to state agencies.

Laws banning banks from underwriting municipal bond deals because of their fossil fuel or firearm policies dramatically boosted underwriting spreads, a business group's study said.

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond released opinions that disallowed the holding of multiple government roles by Turnpike Authority Executive Director Tim Gatz and upheld the constitutionality of a 2023 law that altered the turnpike's governance structure.

The elimination of the 4.5% tax will cost the state about $400 million annually.

Texas bond volume climbed 22.5% to lead the nation in a year when issuance in the eight-state Southwest region increased by only 0.6%.