Maryland

Maryland intends to develop a 16-mile light rail project in the Washington D.C. suburbs through a public-private partnership, the largest P3 in the state and the first for a transit project, government leaders announced Monday.

Maryland plans to sell a total of $475 million of triple-A rated tax-exempt and taxable general obligation bonds in two competitive sales on July 24, state officials said recently.

The Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel will likely need city funds to help pay debt service on revenue bonds issued by the city in 2006 and that will be a credit negative for the bonds, Moody's Investor's Service said Thursday.

Wednesday marked the deadline for companies interested in developing a pair of major rail projects under Maryland's new public-private partnership law, and the private sector is jumping at the chance.

Maryland will sell nearly $700 million of triple-A rated general obligation bonds, and could come to market just days after sharp federal cuts hit the state.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on Monday announced the first of a series of fiscal reforms designed to head off a financial nightmare that a recent projection suggested could be heading the city's way.

After falling less than the national bond market in 2011, the Northeast bounced back less than that market in 2012.

Baltimore is setting a precedent by being the first large city to use long-term forecasting to avoid becoming the next bankruptcy story, city officials and their advisors said Thursday.

A ten-year forecast commissioned by the mayor and released Wednesday reveals that Baltimore could be on a path to bankruptcy without "serious fiscal reforms."

Prince George's County, Md. will sell more than $300 million of highly-rated tax-exempt debt Tuesday, as the county seeks to benefit from low interest rates with both new money and refunding bonds.

A plan released by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority details $6 billion of investment the nation's second-busiest subway system needs to make over the next 12 years, and stresses the need for new revenue to support it.

The impacts of property tax caps in the Eastern U.S. states are mixed, ranging from minimal to restrictive, according to a recent report from Standard & Poor's.

The Maryland Capital Debt Affordability Committee approved Gov. Martin O'Malley's request for $150 million more bond authority despite the criticism of Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Several Maryland state legislators are pushing for a constitutional amendment allowing the state to put transportation packages and their related bonds on statewide ballots.

Maryland will issue $653 million in tax-exempt and taxable debt, including over $15 million of direct-pay qualified zone academy bonds Aug. 1. Maryland Treasurer Nancy Kopp expects a good result just weeks after the state's triple-A rating was reaffirmed by all three credit agencies.

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved the sale of $790.3 million of general obligation bonds. The bonds will be sold in five series and finance a variety of capital projects, such as schools and hospitals.

WASHINGTON — Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley hailed the budget he signed into law last week as a way to secure the state’s triple-A bond rating, but a new Moody’s Investors Service report warned the new budget could hurt the credits of more than 20 municipalities.

Maryland Treasurer Nancy Kopp has been a force on her state's political scene for decades, but the veteran politician doesn't mince words when it comes to the negative outlook a major rating agency has put on the Old Line State's triple-A credit rating.

WASHINGTON — Virginia won applause from Moody's Investors Service this week following an overhaul of its pension system, but neighboring Maryland received flak as the credit rating agency warned its proposed budget cuts could harm the credit of local governments.

WASHINGTON — The Maryland Transportation Authority will price more than $260 million of tax-exempt bonds to refund 2002 bonds and to finance a passenger walkway and tunnel for the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, according to bond documents released Tuesday.