Texas

Texas sales tax collections in April totaled $1.87 billion, up 11.4% from April 2010 collections, Comptroller Susan Combs said last week.

DALLAS — The Texas House’s chief budget writer warned his colleagues Thursday that funding for state aid to public education and Medicaid could run out before the end of the next two-year budget cycle.

DALLAS — The Northside Independent School District in San Antonio is planning to sell nearly $130 million of general obligation refunding bonds before the end of the month in variable-rate mode.

DALLAS — With $15 million in federal grants for a high-speed rail study, Texas officials see the state as well-positioned for developing a Houston-to-Dallas corridor.

The Seguin Independent School District’s request for $97.5 million of general obligation bonds won the support last week of the Seguin Chamber of Commerce.

Officials in Georgetown said the passage of a $29.5 million general obligation bond proposal on May 14 would allow the city to replace outdated public service facilities and upgrade municipal operations.

The only municipal school district in Texas is asking voters to approve a four-part, $49.9 million bond proposal on May 14 to upgrade and maintain district facilities.

DALLAS — As its Legislature prepares to close the state’s biggest budget gap in decades, Texas will test the market’s appetite for $133.5 million of general obligation bonds that carry top marks from two of the three rating agencies.

DALLAS — The Texas Department of Transportation would be spared the kind of funding cuts hitting other agencies under a budget bill approved by the state Senate last week.

DALLAS — The Texas Senate approved a two-year state budget Wednesday on a straight 19-12 party-line vote after Republican leaders outflanked Democratic opposition to considering the $176.5 billion spending plan.

DALLAS — More than 40 years after it hosted the 1968 World’s Fair, San Antonio’s HemisFair Park is targeted for the largest redevelopment project in its history.

DALLAS — The Texas Senate’s $176.5 billion budget bill remained stalled in legislative limbo Friday over resistance to proposed revenue increases and continuing calls to tap into the state’s $9 billion rainy-day fund.

DALLAS — Seeking to forestall default on $127 million of stadium bonds, the Harris County Houston Sports Authority is challenging a UBS Investment Bank demand for a $26.75 million swap termination fee issued last week.

The Texas Senate Finance Committee approved a two-year, $176.5 billion budget Thursday that could draw up to $3 billion from the state's rainy-day fund.

DALLAS — The chairman of the Texas Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday proposed a constitutional amendment to take $2 billion from the $25 billion Permanent School Fund to help soften proposed reductions to state aid for public education.

DALLAS — San Antonio’s CPS Energy will remain a formal partner in expansion plans for the South Texas Project nuclear plant, even though major investor NRG Energy has backed out and the project is at a standstill.

The Texas State University System next week plans to issue $114.5 million of revenue financing system bonds as Texas legislators consider another $320 million for the nine-campus system in its centennial year.

The Houston office of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP strengthened its school district finance representation recently when it hired Marcus Deitz as a partner.

DALLAS — The Texas Transportation Commission has cleared the way for financing a $1.6 billion toll road in Dallas County that leverages a federal loan and the TTC’s strong credit ratings.

DALLAS — A provision in the recent federal budget compromise will release $832 million of frozen education funds to Texas.