Michelle Kaske

After holding a public hearing, New Jersey Sen. Barbara Buono last week asked the state auditor to examine operations of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Buono, D-Middlesex, chairs the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee, which held the hearing.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority wasted thousands of dollars due to mismanagement and lack of oversight, according to an audit released last week by the state’s office of inspector general.

New Jersey Transit last week announced plans to raise rail and bus fares 25% to generate $140 million of new revenue and help plug a $300 million gap.

It’s far from closing time for the ongoing “rum war” between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as a U.S. senator is seeking to distribute rum-tax revenue based on population rather than the amount of rum a territory produces, which is the current system.

Massachusetts will head to market in the next two weeks with $538.8 million of SIFMA-index general obligation debt that will refinance Series 2005A variable-rate bonds.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation plans to refinance by mid-April up to $2.27 billion of debt that helped fund Boston’s Central Artery Project, known as the Big Dig.

New Jersey plans to issue requests for proposals for banking services in every negotiated deal going forward rather than picking banks from its current pool of underwriters.

SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico by the end of the year may select winning bidders to operate and maintain the airport in San Juan and three different toll roads on the island.

SAN JUAN — Nearly one year after Puerto Rico implemented its fiscal reconstruction plan to reduce operating costs, generate more tax revenue, and curtail borrowing, investors are both optimistic and cautious.

A project to increase public transit access between Pittsburgh and its neighborhood of Oakland is seeking expressions of interest from potential investors and partners to help develop transportation in the area via public-private partnerships.

Minority and women-owned underwriting firms may see more New Jersey bond business if the state moves forward with an initiative to examine their participation in borrowings and set goals to encourage such firms to serve as senior managers.

The New Jersey Senate last week voted unanimously to pass reform legislation to help the state address its $34.5 billion unfunded pension liability.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded $103 million of Massachusetts Port Authority special facilities revenue bonds to BBB from A-minus. The outlook is stable.

SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico faces a $14 billion unfunded pension liability and will not have sufficient funds available to pay retirees in eight years unless it implements reforms to the system, government officials warned Thursday.

SAN JUAN, P.R. — Puerto Rico is seeking a one-notch upgrade to its general obligation rating by the first quarter of 2011 and a potential boost to its outlook as the territory plans to issue more than $7.2 billion of refunding and new-money debt in 2010.

Beginning in 2011 Essex County, N.J., may need to repay bondholders on more than $2 million of outstanding debt, as the Garden State Cancer Center is in technical default on the loan.

New Jersey is seeking letters of credit for up to $800 million of school construction debt issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last week appointed Sen. Bill Baroni to serve as deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New ­Jersey.

The Massachusetts Port Authority plans to issue $110 million of private-activity bonds before the end of 2010 to take advantage of the federal government’s temporary suspension of the alternate minimum tax for such deals.

The triple-A rated New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust Wednesday will sell $130 million of tax-exempt bonds via competitive bid to help finance clean water projects throughout the state.