Louisiana

Federal aid will alleviate financial challenges for southern Louisiana parishes affected by this month’s flooding, but the disaster remains a credit negative for the state and local governments, Moody's Investors Service said/

Southeast issuers sold $37.63 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2016, a decline of 10.9% from the same period last year, even as new money deals increased.

Cash-strapped Louisiana faces huge expenses as a result of the three days of torrential rains that flooded the southern part of the state, state budget chief Jay Dardenne told a legislative panel Thursday.

The Louisiana State Bond Commission and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee meet separately Thursday to consider issuing $500 million of notes for cash flow and working capital in the general fund.

Municipal bonds issued for Tennessee-based Global Ministries Foundation housing projects were placed on S&P Global Ratings' CreditWatch and could face rating downgrades because of uncertainty related to a federal investigation.

Louisiana faces another thorny funding issue: how to address billions of dollars in backlogged transportation needs.

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.

With dozens of oil and gas company bankruptcies, energy producing states face a growing backlog of abandoned wells as revenue to fix the problems dwindles.

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

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.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Friday said that lawmakers should begin a special session on June 6 to continue work on the fiscal 2017 budget to avoid what he said are unnecessary cuts in important state services.

German Pellets Texas LLC and Texas Pellets Inc. filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization last month with $184.7 million of tax-exempt industrial development bonds outstanding.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, blasted a budget proposal by House Republicans to address a $600 million deficit by funding a college scholarship program at the expense of health care programs.

State budget conditions vary widely as of late fiscal 2016, with the overall picture getting better while states with less diversified economies face significant stress, Standard & Poor's said Wednesday.

It will take time to repair Louisiana’s structural budget imbalance but the state is committed to resolving its challenges, Gov. John Bel Edwards said at the National Municipal Bond Summit.

Louisiana’s fiscal problems require that the state alter how it prioritizes capital outlay projects, particularly those financed with state bonds, said Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne.

As Louisiana prepares to price $359.3 million of general obligation bonds next week for budget relief, headline risk associated with Illinois and Puerto Rico may factor into borrowing costs.

UMB Bank N.A., the bond trustee for Texas Pellets, accelerated the outstanding debt on $186.5 million of bonds due to a default at the company owned by German Pellets, which filed for insolvency in February.

A federal judge approved a $20 billion settlement with BP to resolve litigation brought by five Gulf coast states over the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Louisiana’s general obligation bonds by one notch to AA-minus on Tuesday as the troubled state prepares to refund debt as part of a deficit-reduction plan.