Chip Barnett

Outstanding governmental debt totals approximately $719 million and utility debt stands at roughly $200 million, according to Fitch Ratings.

New York’s $220 billion fiscal 2023 budget focuses on environmental and social issues while staying in balance with federal aid and projection-beating revenue.

The state’s personal income tax revenue and sales tax revenue bonds were also lifted from Aa2. Related credits were also upgraded. The rating outlook is stable.

The the $389.495 million of tax-exempts were sold late last month to help fund construction of the Broward County Convention Center Headquarters Hotel.

High gas prices usually have the biggest effect on leisure travel because drivers take fewer or shorter trips, Fitch Ratings says.

Apollo will make an equity and credit investment that will significantly increase SWS’s underwriting capacity for municipal and corporate debt, as well as equity offerings, the firms said.

Using a surplus to build reserve levels was key for the outlook change, the rating agency said.

The budget includes a $600 million commitment from the state to subsidize a new stadium for the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills.

A mostly tax-exempt deal will let the District Department of Transportation to put energy efficient LEDs in its 75,000 streetlights.

Most state departments and authorities would be required to offer a telework program of up to two days a week for one year starting July 1.

S&P revised the outlook on Miami Beach to stable from negative and affirmed the AA-minus rating on the city’s resort tax revenue bonds.

Panelists discuss the implications of working from home in a hybrid manner, rising crime and falling mass transit ridership, vulnerable revenue sources and the lack of affordable housing at a New York Fed event.

The upgrade to A-minus from BBB-plus "reflects what we view as material improvement in the state's structural deficit and near-term liquidity," S&P said.

For a third spending cycle in a row, there was tension over funding for the Kentucky Wired public private partnership deal.

Moody’s said MEAG's upgrade reflects the upgrade of Florida’s JEA Electric Enterprise ratings on Monday. JEA is to be a major customer of MEAG's nuclear units.

Moody's said its rating upgrades reflect the Jacksonville, Florida, utility's sound financial performance and governance changes.

Raymond James has agreed to acquire SumRidge Partners, a fixed income market maker dealing in investment-grade and high-yield municipal bonds.

Nora Wittstruck, senior director and environmental social and governance sector lead at S&P Global Ratings, talks with Chip Barnett about climate change, sea level rise and how municipalities’ mitigation efforts affect South Florida and other parts of the U.S. (19 minutes)

Fitch said it expects UT to maintain a strong operating performance that could warrant an upgrade in the next two years.

Ten states, includeing five in the Southeast, pre-pandemic employment levels in January, according to Fitch Ratings. In an update, the U.S. Labor Department reported Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 3.3% in February.