Pennsylvania

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is auditing financial and management operations at the Philadelphia Housing Authority in the wake of allegations it asked vendors to donate to certain charities and events benefitting its executive director, Carl Greene.

The Harrisburg City Council Tuesday night tabled two nominees to the Harrisburg Authority’s board, continuing a political standoff with the mayor that has left the board without a quorum and bondholders with an uncertain future.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission are in disagreement over payments the turnpike makes to PennDOT under Act 44.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has told the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency that if it wants to settle a bond-related tax dispute, the settlement will have to cover all $700 million of its outstanding student loan debt.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell Monday proposed implementing a profits tax on oil companies and raising motor vehicle fees to generate more than $1 billion per year to help finance road, bridge, and mass transit needs throughout the state.

A poll this week of 504 Pennsylvania residents shows that 95% of participants believe that the quality of the state's transportation is extremely, very, or somewhat important to the state's economy. Overall, 69% of those polled said that the state should increase its spending on roads, bridges, and highways, Republican pollster Frank Luntz said during a press conference with Gov. Edward Rendell Thursday on the survey.

The Delaware River Port Authority is embarking on a series of reforms intended to professionalize the bi-state agency, which has been the subject of allegations of fiscal mismanagement, and avoid similar problems in the future.

Scott Balice Strategies LLC will advise Harrisburg, Pa., on the refinancing of $282 million of Harrisburg Authority incinerator debt as the agency continues to operate without a board.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is gearing up to sell about $600 million of revenue debt on Wednesday, including taxable Build America Bonds, to help finance infrastructure needs on the state’s 535-mile toll road.

The Harrisburg Authority will pay its entire $2.2 million, Sept. 1 payment to holders of incinerator bonds with debt reserve funds, as an incomplete board threatens the Pennsylvania agency’s ability to move ahead with needed business actions.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey are looking to a potential public-private partnership to help finance replacement of the 50-year old Scudder Falls Bridge, which connects the two states over the Delaware River.

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission chief executive officer Joseph Brimmeier Wednesday urged more tolling of interstate highways to help generate additional revenue for transportation needs.

The Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority next month will sell $30 million of unrated tax-exempt revenue bonds to help finance a new equipment facility and terminal upgrades for US Airways at the Philadelphia International Airport.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell Monday called for a special session of the legislature to begin Aug. 23 to address the state’s $472.5 million transportation funding gap.

A Harrisburg official who has been advocating a potential bankruptcy filing for Pennsylvania’s capital city released an alternative plan Wednesday that involves bondholders taking a potential cut on the $282 million of incinerator debt owed them.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward ­Rendell Tuesday signed a $28 billion general fund budget for fiscal 2011 after ­legislators worked through the holiday weekend to increase the state’s bonding capacity for redevelopment and establish a $1.55 billion capital spending plan.

Harrisburg Friday may select qualified financial advisers to participate in a request for proposal process, as Pennsylvania’s capital city looks towards addressing $282 million of outstanding incinerator debt that is in technical ­default.

Moody’s Investors Service Wednesday downgraded $2.68 billion of subordinate Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission bonds to A3 from A2 and assigned a negative outlook to the credit.

For the first time in his eight-year tenure, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell may sign a budget on time, as he announced Tuesday an agreement with the legislature that includes a new tax on natural-gas extraction.

The mayor of Allentown, Pa., says he’s been sitting down with union leaders to rework its labor agreements in a bid to keep the financially troubled city out of Act 47 — the state’s distressed municipalities program.