Southwest

Austin's 15-member bond advisory committee will meet in early January to begin trimming an initial $1.3 billion project list for a general obligation bond package expected to go to city voters next November.

A ruling that Colorado's school funding formula violates the state constitution is drawing scrutiny in several states that face similar legal challenges.

A forecast released last week by Texas Comptroller Susan Combs predicts that an expanding economy will generate an unexpected $1.6 billion for state coffers over the next two years.

General fund revenues in November exceeded November 2011 collections by 22.6% thanks to increased oil exploration and production, Oklahoma finance director Preston Doerflinger said last week.

A top aide to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback outlined a new school finance plan last week that he said would increase funding for about half of the 283 school districts in the state without harming the others,

Opponents of a city subsidy for a hotel in downtown Wichita, Kan., have apparently amassed enough petition signatures to force a citywide vote on the proposed project.

The Arkansas Department of Highways and Transportation will focus initially on improving traffic flow along Interstate 30 if voters approve $1.3 billion of general obligation bonds for roadwork next year.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit has awarded a design-build contract for the final segment in its $1.5 billion Orange Line project that will connect Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to the DART light-rail network, officials said.

A third lawsuit seeking to overturn Texas' system for financing public education was filed Tuesday in a Travis County state district court in Austin.

Designing a solar rooftop for Salt Lake City's convention center has proven much less challenging than arranging the financing, planners for the $7 million project say.