Southwest

DALLAS — Voters in Texas face a light load of school bond requests at the polls on May 14 as districts across the state focus on belt-tightening instead of capital projects.

DALLAS — In an unusually lean market for tax-exempt debt, the San Antonio Independent School District will provide about $100 million of refunding bonds in a deal that ranks as one of the largest from Texas this year.

Travis County may establish a tax increment financing district to build roads and other public infrastructure serving the 3.4-mile Formula One Grand Prix racetrack being built outside Austin.

Oklahoma agencies may see their budgets cut next year by 7% or more rather than the less-severe cuts sought earlier as lawmakers and Gov. Mary Fallin continue to negotiate the fiscal 2012 budget.

The Arkansas Senate approved a ­measure last week that would allow the governor to put a 5-cent per gallon ­increase in state gasoline taxes on a statewide ­ballot.

The Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board will hear April 15 a request from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for a $132.3 million revenue bond package to finance projects at the main campus.

Trustees of the Central Arkansas Library System last week approved a plan to set an election on a proposed $32 million revenue bond issue.

DALLAS — The North Central Texas Council of Governments is considering funding for a proposed $1.4 billion commuter rail line from southwest Fort Worth to the north Dallas suburb of Plano.

DALLAS — The $164.5 billion state budget adopted last week by a Texas House committee could cost the state more than 335,000 jobs over the next two years, according to an economic impact report from the Legislative Budget Board.

DALLAS — The Texas House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday adopted a $164.5 billion, two-year operating budget that reduces spending by $22.9 billion from the current biennium.