Texas

Taking the oath of office just 11 days before the opening of the 84th Texas Legislature, Comptroller Glenn Hegar promised to provide a “clear revenue estimate” as the basis of the state's budget.

Nine years after the last tuition revenue bonds were approved by the Texas Legislature, a bill pre-filed for the 2015 session seeks $2.86 billion of TRBs for construction projects at the state's college and university systems.

Dallas closed on $529 million of bonds Dec. 22 after meeting strong market demand for the issue that included new money and refunding.

Revenues for Texas Health Resources' Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas are back on track after falling 25% during an Ebola scare that claimed a patient's life and infected two nurses, according to a disclosure announcement.

Muni bond issuers in Texas posted updated disclosures to correct previous omissions under the Securities and Exchange Commission's MCDC initiative.

After eight years as Texas Comptroller, Susan Combs leaves office this month with a record her successors might find hard to match.

Standard & Poor's has issued its top rating to Harris County, Texas, based on the 'very strong' economy in the Houston area and three years of improvement in general fund balances.

The trustee for holders of $49 million of bonds has negotiated a delay in plans to close a privately operated jail in Livingston, Texas, whose revenues pay debt service.

Spending on fuel for cars and trucks in 2015 is expected to reach the lowest level in 11 years due to falling pump prices and more efficient engines, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Standard & Poor's on Dec. 12 downgraded El Paso County Hospital District's credit to A-plus from AA-minus, citing a weakened cash position.

Among the 10 states that account for nearly 78% of oil production in the U.S., Texas and California appear better insulated from falling prices because of their diverse economies, according to Fitch Ratings.

Teaming with state and local investigators, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is launching a sweeping investigation of public corruption in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

A privately operated immigration detention center in La Salle, County, Texas, will receive no revenues while closed for repairs, according to a disclosure notice to bondholders.

Despite tumbling oil prices, Texas sales tax revenue soared 10.7% to $2.66 billion, according to state Comptroller Susan Combs, who will leave office in January.

Texas Department of Transportation executive director Joe Weber said he expects the upcoming session of the Texas Legislature to de-emphasize toll roads after a series of protests and a general feeling of "toll fatigue."

Gov.-elect Greg Abbott said he wants to invest an additional $4 billion in road and transportation projects in Texas without raising taxes or tolls. Abbott will succeed Texas' longest-serving governor, Rick Perry, in January as the 2015 Legislature convenes.

Tarleton State University, part of the Texas A&M University System, plans to build a new Fort Worth campus on 80 acres of land donated by the Walton Group of Companies.

Bexar County plans to refund $332.7 million of bonds backed by venue and car rental taxes. The previously issued debt financed improvements to AT&T Center sports arena and San Antonio's tourism projects.

More than 16 years after Dallas voters approved $246 million of bonds for development of parks and a "parkway" between the levees of the Trinity River, the city still has work to do. The "parkway" has become a proposed high-speed toll road whose financing is still undetermined. Meanwhile, bond money is continuing to build bridges, trails and nature centers in the 10,000-acre area designated as the Trinity River Corridor.

San Antonio is planning to issue more than $600 million of bonds this month and next for its water and electric utilities, with most of the proceeds going toward refunding.