Shelly Sigo

A bill in the North Carolina General Assembly would ask voters to lower the income tax rate to 5.5% from 10%, a move that opponents say would restrict budget flexibility and jeopardize the state's triple-A ratings.

The outlook for the University of Louisville was changed to developing after Moody's Investors Service found that Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s dismissal of the board of trustees raised uncertainty about the university’s governance.

Louisiana lawmakers capped their third session of the year on Thursday adopting a fiscal 2017 budget with $300 million in cuts while failing to address a projected $200 million current-year deficit.

The small south Florida city of Opa-locka, recently designated by the state to be in a financial emergency, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to the Miami Herald.

In a first-of-its-kind case, a federal judge hears arguments June 30 on motions to dismiss a challenge by two Florida counties of $1.75 billion in private activity bonds for the All Aboard Florida passenger train.

As Louisiana lawmakers remain at odds with the governor over program funding as the state faces an even higher deficit estimate.

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin restructured the state pension board as a state agency, saying the move was necessary to achieve greater transparency and better administration.

Georgia’s Oconee Regional Medical Center did not make its June 1 bond payment, and although the hospital said it plans to pay the debt, S&P Global Ratings sent its ratings to the bottom of the junk scale.

North Carolina Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson said the $800 million cost to unwind the I-77 Mobility contract and finance the projects in-house are among his concerns about House Bill 954, which would terminate the P3.

Wilmington Trust opened a new office in Birmingham, Ala., as part of an expansion of its corporate trust services in the Southeast; six new employees will offer trust and escrow services.

Hoping to avoid a state government shutdown July 1, the GOP-led West Virginia Legislature approved a new 2017 budget Tuesday that Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is expected to sign.

Buena Vista, Va., was sued by bond insurer ACA Financial Guarantee Corp., which says the city breached its forbearance agreement and stopped making “moral obligation” payments on bonds issued to construct a golf course.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has appointed nine people, including six top level state employees, to take charge of Opa-locka’s finances while the city is in a state of financial emergency.

A Florida court has denied Indian River County’s quest to block a state-created conduit issuer from selling $1.75 billion of tax exempt bonds for All Aboard Florida’s planned private passenger rail project.

Kentucky, after plugging billions into its massively underfunded pensions this year, is hitting the brakes on transportation spending.

North Carolina’s Fayetteville Public Works Commission auctioned $114.4 million of 25-year bonds on Wednesday, resulting in yields lower than the utility’s last foray into the market two years ago.

West Virginia is closer to a state government shutdown after Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed the fiscal 2017 state budget, saying the spending plan lawmakers approved unwisely draws on the state reserves and threatens its bond ratings.

The North Carolina Council of State Tuesday approved issuing $200 million of the $2 billion in general obligation bonds that voters approved in March; the deal will be sold in late July.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards opened the state's third legislative session Tuesday urging lawmakers to resume work on a budget for 2017 that 'no one likes' in order to prevent severe cuts to critical state services.

Triple-A rated Georgia will auction $1.4 billion of general obligation bonds Tuesday, with analysts seeing the state benefiting from six years of positive revenue performance.