Southwest

The wettest May on record, in which the state of Texas averaged nearly nine inches of rain for the month, has brought an end to the state's four-year drought, according to Fitch Ratings.

Glendale Ariz.’s decision to cancel a 15-year contract with the Arizona Coyotes professional hockey team is a positive credit factor for the A3-rated city, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Standard & Poor’s sees negative implications in a pending $200 million lawsuit.

With the longest legislative session in Kansas history nearing its end, House members finally found the 63 votes needed to close a $400 million deficit with a sales-tax increase.

Two years after agreeing to subsidize the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes in the city-owned Arena, the Glendale, Ariz., City Council has voided the deal that costs the city $15 million per year.

Despite a slump in oil prices, Texas sales tax revenues rose 5.2% in May compared to the same month last year, Comptroller Glenn Hegar said.

Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar certified a $209.4 billion state budget passed by the Legislature and headed to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott.

Seeking an end to the longest legislative session in Kansas history, Gov. Sam Brownback said he would sign legislation increasing sales and tobacco taxes to erase a $400 million budget deficit.

The Texas Transportation Commission will bring $800 million of refunding bonds to market in its first issue since the Legislature approved a record funding increase for highway projects.

Two weeks after El Paso Children’s Hospital filed for bankruptcy, the county hospital district that issued $120 million of bonds filed a voluntary disclosure of the filing on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA Web site.

In a continuing trend, Kansas revenues fell $5.8 million below projections in May, the penultimate month of the fiscal year.