Shelly Sigo

BRADENTON, Fla. — Facing a budget shortfall of $1.5 billion over the next two years, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear told lawmakers late Wednesday that efforts so far to restructure debt and cut expenses won’t be enough for the state to avoid more “painful decisions about where we spend money.”

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami-Dade County next week plans to offer $600 million of aviation revenue bonds to continue financing for a major capital improvement program at Miami International Airport that is nearing completion.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida today expects to complete negotiated pricing of $263.4 million of Florida Forever revenue bonds, representing the last debt authorized for the state’s long-running environmental and conservation land-protection program.

Former Georgia state senator Kasim Reed on Monday took the oath of office and became Atlanta’s 59th mayor, succeeding Shirley Franklin, who could not run again after serving two terms.

A federal judge in Birmingham Monday delayed the sentencing of Montgomery bond dealer William Blount and Alabama lobbyist Albert LaPierre. Both men pleaded guilty last year to pay-to-play charges related to Jefferson County’s troubled sewer debt and were scheduled to be sentenced today.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Standard & Poor’s yesterday affirmed its A-minus rating, with a stable outlook, on the Prichard Waterworks and Sewer Board in Alabama.

Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson has extended the deadline until Jan. 8 for his office to receive public comments on a proposed model debt-management policy for local governments.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded Collier County’s capital improvement revenue bonds to A2 from A1.

The Jefferson County Commission has enacted a new occupational tax, as required by the Alabama Legislature, but a local dentist has filed a lawsuit challenging it.

Florida school districts face rising negative fiscal and credit pressures stemming from the weak economy, funding uncertainties, and property tax reform, Moody's Investors Service said in a special report last week.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Monday reinstated former Jefferson County, Ala., commissioner Gary White's 2008 conspiracy and bribery convictions and returned the case to Birmingham for sentencing.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear announced late last week the sale of $100 million of grant anticipation revenue vehicle bonds for the Ohio River Bridge Project.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist Wednesday visited four cities to conduct the ceremonial signing of the state's first comprehensive passenger rail bill, which has the potential to jump-start the long-delayed central Florida commuter rail project known as SunRail.

The consolidated Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County is reviewing a finance plan to build a new $585 million convention center. But the idea is controversial because most of the debt for the project would be backed by a general fund pledge of non-ad valorem revenue.

Moody's Investors Service on Tuesday downgraded DeKalb County's $471 million of outstanding general obligation unlimited-tax backed and parity debt, issued through various public authorities, to Aa1 from Aaa.

Alex Sink, Florida's elected chief financial officer who is running for governor in 2010, on Monday urged Federal Railroad Administration head Joseph Szabo to consider the state's request for $2.6 billion to develop a high-speed rail corridor between Tampa and Orlando.

Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sekaly and other scientists at the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida are looking for "nothing short of cures" when it comes to diseases such as HIV, swine flu, and the West Nile virus, says the institute's chief operating officer, Mark Williams.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is urging U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to approve Florida’s application for high-speed rail funding now that lawmakers have passed a statewide rail policy and funding bill.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Atlanta elected a new mayor after a recount and took steps to make the city eligible to sell $34 million of Recovery Zone facility bonds allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to offer its first public-private partnership concession earlier than planned next year with two metro Atlanta interstate highway projects estimated to cost more than $2 billion.