Southwest

DALLAS — The Kansas Senate Ways and Means Committee Wednesday adopted a proposed state budget for fiscal 2011 that is out of balance by more than $400 million.

DALLAS — For the first time since it became a state in 1912, Arizona could lift its constitutional debt limit from the original $350,000 — an amount so small that the state issues no general obligation bonds — to $3.9 billion under a measure in the Legislature.

DALLAS — Kansas lawmakers will return to Topeka on April 28 to deal with a growing budget shortfall that has worsened since the Legislature recessed in early April to await the latest revenue estimate.

DALLAS — Without a sales tax increase, the Denver area’s FasTracks transit system — originally designed as a 12-year project — would not be completed until 2042, according to the Regional Transportation District.

DALLAS — The Lower Colorado River Authority, a major public power wholesaler based in Austin, is preparing to issue $200 million of revenue bonds to refund commercial paper that financed expansion of the utility’s transmission system.

DALLAS — In an $84 million remarketing deal priced this week, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin sought to eliminate interest rate risk in favor of fixed-rate bonds, securities executives said.

DALLAS — A proposed sale of the National Hockey League’s Phoenix Coyotes to Chicago sports entrepreneur Jerry Reinsdorf is contingent on creation of a bond district backed by tax revenue.

DALLAS — Faced with the borrowing constraints that often hamper growth of charter schools, the Houston area’s Yes Prep Public Schools used a new type of bond financing that has never been done in Texas.

DALLAS — The capital program financed by $98.6 million of general obligation bonds being sought by the Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District has been developed to help meet the South Texas district’s needs for the next decade.

Samco Capital Markets Inc. has added Dejuan Green as managing director to its Dallas office to concentrate on public finance in North Texas, the firm said.