Southwest

Texas voters will consider more than $8.7 billion of local bond proposals Nov. 3 while weighing another $2.5 billion for transportation funding statewide, according to final tally of ballot items.

Already outpacing all other issuers in the Southwest this year, the Texas Transportation Commission is going to market with $1 billion of triple-A-rated bonds.

The oil and gas industry is pressing Congress to permit exports of crude as prices remain at the lowest since the 2008 global financial crisis. The campaign comes as Houston and other energy dependent credits face growing pain from the falling prices, according to Fitch Ratings.

Phoenix voters have approved a $31.7 billion transportation plan funded by an increase in a dedicated sales tax.

Fast-growing Montomery County north of Houston will vote again on $280 million of road bonds that were defeated in 2014, county commissioners decided.

Michael Bartolotta, formerly of First Southwest, has left that firm to join Citi in Houston.

Under a new law going into effect Sept. 1, Texas governments can no longer issuer certificates of obligation for a project if voters have rejected a bond proposal within the previous three years.

Colorado may have to cut highway funding so it can issue tax refunds triggered by the state's TABOR law.

Favorable demographic trends and increases in funding will give Texas colleges and universities an advantage over systems in other states, according to a report from Moody’s.

Bracewell & Giuliani partner Shamoil T. Shipchandler will head the Fort Worth regional office of the Securities and Exchange Commission beginning in October, the agency said.