Southwest

Oklahoma lawmakers approved using their rainy day fund for recovery after a killer tornado, but a proposed $500 million state bond issue for school shelters will have to wait.

The Rockefeller Foundation selected eight cities to participate in the RE.Invest Initiative, a national effort to support sustainable infrastructure that includes financial advice on P3 options.

After clearing up issues around a phony audit, the New Mexico Finance Authority returned to the bond market Wednesday with $43 million of excise tax bonds for local government projects.

The Harris County-Houston Sports Authority is fending off a legislative effort by the company that insures nearly $1 billion of its stadium bonds to restrict use of revenues to debt service.

Arkansas Treasurer Martha Shoffner faces federal extortion charges for accepting $36,000 in bribes in an alleged pay for play scheme.

Texas legislators have reached a deal on a $94 billion spending plan over the next two years but need to work out details on a $2 billion water bond program and $400 million of transportation funding.

A school district in the Texas Panhandle passed a $30 million general obligation bond referendum by a single vote at the polls on May 11.

Texas State sales tax revenues in April totaled $2.15 billion, an increase of almost 4% from April 2012 collections.

Muskogee County Independent School District No. 20, Okla. will provide laptops to students with proceeds from $49.5 million of bonds approved May 12.

Tulsa County Independent School District No. 1 will upgrade its instructional technology with $38 million of bonds approved last week.