Texas

DALLAS — The North Central Texas Council of Governments is considering funding for a proposed $1.4 billion commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to the north Dallas suburb of Plano.

DALLAS — The $164.5 billion state budget adopted last week by a Texas House committee could cost the state more than 335,000 jobs over the next two years, according to an economic impact report from the Legislative Budget Board.

DALLAS — The Texas House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday adopted a $164.5 billion, two-year operating budget that reduces spending by $22.9 billion from the current biennium.

DALLAS — Plans to add two reactors to the South Texas Project nuclear power plant near Houston became more doubtful this week as San Antonio’s public utility halted all discussions about buying power and the developer announced the project was on hold.

DALLAS — Amid a $500 million remodeling project, Dallas Love Field Airport won a two notch upgrade from Standard & Poor’s Wednesday, rising to A with a stable outlook from BBB-plus.

DALLAS — In what will likely be the largest deal in Texas so far this year, the North Texas Tollway Authority is preparing to issue $1.3 billion for the western extension of its President George Bush Turnpike.

DALLAS — Members of a new Texas Senate special subcommittee were tasked Monday with finding $5 billion of savings and non-tax revenues over the next two weeks.

Texas Lieut. Gov. David Dewhurst wants state senators to look everywhere, even under rocks, to find $5 billion in savings and non-tax revenue to help cover a revenue gap of between $15 billion and $23 billion over the next two-year budget cycle.

DALLAS — Texas will draw up to $3.2 billion from its rainy-day fund to close a revenue shortfall in fiscal 2011 under an accord approved Tuesday by Gov. Rick Perry.

DALLAS — As the hub of the largest cotton-growing region in the world, Lubbock, Texas, depends on groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer, a vast underground reservoir covering parts of eight states in the Great Plains.

Texas will distribute $433.1 million of sales tax collections to local governments this month, an increase of 7.1% from March 2010. Local sales tax allocation for the first three months of the calendar year are up 7.9% from 2010.

Trustees of the North East Independent School District decided last week to postpone an election set for May 14 for a proposed $399.4 million general obligation bond package due to uncertainties over state aid to public education over the next two years.

DALLAS — Despite Republican leaders’ efforts to downplay the record budget shortfall facing Texas, the state’s funding gap is one of the worst in the nation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

DALLAS — The Houston suburb of Sugar Land will build a 7,500-seat minor league baseball stadium with proceeds from next week’s $30.1 million competitive issue of sales-tax revenue bonds.

DALLAS — Texas Gov. Rick Perry met Monday with Republican lawmakers and urged them to avoid tapping the state’s $9 billion budget stabilization fund to help close a $27 billion revenue gap over the next two fiscal years.

DALLAS — Texas transportation planning has shifted to the slow lane as state legislators seek record spending cuts and prepare to rewrite the law governing the Texas Transportation Commission.

DALLAS — Texas will not be able to resolve a $4.3 billion revenue shortfall by the end of fiscal 2011 through budget cuts, state Comptroller Susan Combs warned legislators Thursday.

DALLAS — Voters in the Dallas suburb of Frisco will have an opportunity in May to reconsider a September 2002 vote authorizing $19 million of general obligation bonds for a regional arts center.

DALLAS — Voters in San Antonio’s North East Independent School District will decide on almost $400 million of general obligation bonds as trustees opted to put the larger of two proposed debt requests on the May ballot.

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell said last week that voters will be asked in November 2012 to decide on a bond package that would fund an urban rail system, roads, bike paths, parks, and libraries.