Southwest

While some states celebrated President Trump's reversal of the Clean Power Plan and others filed lawsuits, public utilities are expected to continue moves away from coal.

Texas highway commissioners have added 230 projects costing $9 billion to the state’s 10-year road plan.

A $217.7 billion budget that would require more local revenue for school funding won unanimous approval from the Texas Senate. The budget must now be reconciled with the House version.

Investors with holdings in municipal conduit bonds that have been the subject of recent SEC enforcement actions over fraudulent commingling of assets are suing Bank of Oklahoma Financial, which served as the trustee for many of the faulty offerings.

The public finance team at the Houston law firm of Bracewell expects to increase its appeal to bond issuers after adding former SEC attorney Edward Fierro and rising in the ranks of bond counsel in 2016.

A 15-cent increase in Kansas fuel taxes would support $264 million per year in highway projects, boosting economic activity by nearly $600 million, according to a road-building industry report.

Texas lawmakers need to face four areas where long term liabilities are growing, including the funding level of its public pensions, said state Comptroller Glenn Hegar.

Moody’s Investors Service retained a negative outlook on Catholic Health Initiatives $5.7 billion of rated debt after lowering the healthcare giant to Baa1 from A3. The downgrade comes less than a month after a similar move by S&P Global Ratings.

A bill requiring a vote on $1 billion of pension bonds is a “poison pill” that could derail Houston’s efforts to restructure its debt to city employees, Mayor Sylvester Turner said.

Arkansas House defeats plan to raise taxes by $200 million per year to support road bonds.