Southwest

Forty-four state and local governments have failed to meet the deadline for their audits in fiscal year 2014, earning them a place on State Auditor Tim Keller's "At Risk" list.

Buoyed by a strong fourth-quarter finish, 2014 municipal bond issuance in the Southwest region was 15% higher than 2013 at $64.7 billion, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Two Austin lawmakers are pushing bills that would allow increases in auto registration fees to finance road construction in Travis County.

State lawmakers in Arkansas and Washington state give initial approval to measures that would increase local transportation funding.

Voters gave three Tulsa, Okla., area school districts authority to issue $487 million of bonds for school construction, including $340 million for the Broken Arrow district.

A bill that reduces Arizona's income tax revenue by $15.4 million in the next fiscal year won state Senate approval despite the state's anticipated $1 billion budget deficit.

A $35.4 million issue of revenue bonds for a private detention center in Central Texas will retain tax-exempt status following a review by the Internal Revenue Service, according to a disclosure notice.

Declaring that "our economic engine continues to gain steam," Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called for a new structure to lower the state's debt while increasing spending on transportation by $4 billion per year and cutting taxes.

After years of discussion about how to keep the National Western Stock Show complex in Denver, the city is mapping out an $856.4 million plan to redevelop the area north of downtown.

The growing Dallas suburb of Frisco would vote on $268 million of bonds under a proposal that has been sent to the city council for approval.