Paul Burton is the Northeast Regional Editor for The Bond Buyer. His major coverage has included New York City and MTA finances; the Harrisburg, Pa., debt crisis; the 38 Studios bond financing fiasco in Rhode Island; and unfunded pension liability. Paul hosts podcasts and videos and has moderated at Bond Buyer conferences. Previously, Paul was senior editor and copy chief at M&A-oriented financial media company The Deal LLC. His award-winning career has spanned financial, sports and political journalism. A Boston native, Paul is the author of the book “Tales from the Newsrooms.” He is a frequent public speaker and has appeared as an expert on municipal debt on radio and television shows, including former CBS News White House correspondent Sharyl Attkisson’s public-affairs program, “Full Measure.”
- New Jersey
Upper Township employees had an alternative after voters rejected a proposed $9.5 million bond referendum to repair primary and middle schools: They made the fixes themselves.
By Paul BurtonAugust 19 - Connecticut
Gov. Dannel Malloy has announced the members of a new task force that will review the effectiveness of Connecticut’s education cost-sharing grants and how it relates to state constitutional requirements.
By Paul BurtonAugust 19 -
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s board of commissioners cited the need to maintain a high bond rating Friday morning in approving a set of toll and fare hikes for the region after the states’ governors softened the blow.
By Paul BurtonAugust 19 -
Eight of every 10 financial managers polled in a survey of state government chief financial officers and their peers say recent and future budget cuts will produce new kinds of risks.
By Paul BurtonAugust 18 - New York
New York's surplus has evaporated, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a report for July that his office issued on Wednesday.
By Paul BurtonAugust 17 - Rhode Island
With a bankruptcy in Central Falls and pension-debt problems engulfing her state, Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo has announced a bond sale for next week, accompanied with a marketing campaign.
By Paul BurtonAugust 17 -
Fitch Ratings late Wednesday afternoon downgraded New Jersey's general obligation bond rating to AA-minus from double A.
By Paul BurtonAugust 17 -
The Monroe County, N.Y., Industrial Development Corp. is scheduled to issue $161 million of fixed-rate, tax-exempt revenue bonds on Thursday following a one-day retail order period, to benefit 19 projects at the University of Rochester.
By Paul BurtonAugust 16 -
The New Hampshire Higher Education Loan Corp. has scheduled a sale of $522.6 million of taxable student loan-backed notes for this week.
By Paul BurtonAugust 15 -
Issuers in the Northeast sold $36.1 billion of municipal bonds in the first six months of 2011, down 38.8% from the same period a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 -
The dominoes continue to fall in Rhode Island as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded East Providence to Baa1 from A1, while on the same day it lowered to A2 from Aa3 the Rhode Island Health and Educational Building Corp.’s revenue bond financing program.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 -
Puerto Rico received 12 responses from infrastructure funds, U.S. private-equity firms, Canadian pensions, and developers based in Spain and India to a request for qualifications for a privatization of up to 50 years of its principal airport, near the capital, San Juan.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 -
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority sold $201.6 million of tax-exempt capital grant receipts bonds, Series 2011.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 -
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York on Wednesday approved $426 million of health care bonds for the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Obligated Group. The 30-year bonds will be sold through negotiated sales.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 -
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo named a search committee to recommend candidates for the next chairman and chief executive of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 - New York
New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli proposed establishing an industry-supported fund to recover damages caused by accidents related to Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 -
Fitch Ratings upgraded Massachusetts’ special obligation highway revenue bonds to AA-plus from AA with a stable outlook. The agency said the move was part of its continuous surveillance effort.
By Paul BurtonAugust 12 -
Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson warned that without a fiscal recovery plan in place, Pennsylvania's capital city would be unable to pay its nearly 500 workers in mid-September.
By Paul BurtonAugust 10 -
Though the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey didn't say so directly in its statement announcing stunningly high fare-hike proposals, the message was clear: the authority is worried about its bond rating.
By Paul BurtonAugust 8 - Puerto Rico
Moody's Investors Service downgraded Puerto Rico's general obligation rating Monday to Baa1 from A3, with a negative outlook, one day before the Puerto Rico Public Building Authority's planned pricing of $981 million of bonds.
By Paul BurtonAugust 8
