Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania officials yesterday weighed in on an initiative to prohibit local governments from using derivatives, with most participants in the public hearing urging greater state regulation and guidelines for such instruments rather than ending swaps at the local level.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell yesterday announced proposals to address a transportation funding shortfall, including a short-term plan in which the state would sell $1 billion of debt during the next two years.

Pennsylvania faces a projected $1 billion fiscal 2010 shortfall as sluggish revenue collections will require further spending reductions and potential layoffs.

Pennsylvania officials will conduct a public hearing next week on an initiative to ban local governments from using derivatives.

Harrisburg, Pa., plans to release in the next few weeks a request for qualifications for financial advisers to help it tackle $282 million of outstanding incinerator bonds it guarantees, as officials continue to work on a forbearance agreement for the debt.

Harrisburg’s City Council Monday evening was set to hear from outside professionals and government officials regarding Pennsylvania’s municipal financial distress program in addition to information on bankruptcy filings.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation yesterday released a plan that provides a framework for potential rail development during the next 25 years.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Harrisburg City Council Tuesday evening approved the appointment of three board members to the Harrisburg Authority, with the expectation that the new members will help the agency address its $282 million of outstanding incinerator debt.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Harrisburg, Pa., Mayor Linda Thompson yesterday delivered her first state of the city address, pledging to work with stakeholders to tackle $282 million of outstanding incinerator debt and bring Pennsylvania’s capital city into fiscal solvency.

Pennsylvania and municipal officials within the next two weeks could finalize a potential forbearance agreement regarding $282 million of Harrisburg Authority incinerator bonds that would give the city 90 days to craft a repayment plan.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell yesterday called for a special legislative session to find $472.5 million for fiscal 2011 transportation needs as the Federal Highway Administration denied, for the second time, the state’s request to implement tolls on Interstate 80.

Pennsylvania Sen. Jake Corman, R-District 34, Wednesday said the Senate would not act on a fiscal 2011 budget bill until mid-May, but warned of another budget stalemate if Democratic leaders propose tax hikes to help balance next year’s spending plan.

Pennsylvania-based ACTS Retirement-Life Communities Inc., the largest nonprofit continuing care retirement community provider in the U.S., will affiliate with two smaller East Coast senior-living centers, a move that may boost debt-service coverage for one.

Harrisburg, Pa., will operate under a budget that does not include payments for debt service on outstanding incinerator bonds after the City Council Tuesday evening declined to override Mayor Linda Thompson’s budget veto.

Allegheny County officials are working on a $2 billion initiative to expand public transportation between downtown Pittsburgh and its Oakland neighborhood — the city’s academic and cultural hub — and to boost mass transit within Oakland itself.

Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson Friday vetoed the Pennsylvania capital city’s $65 million fiscal 2010 budget because it doesn’t include current-year debt service obligations to bondholders on $282 million of outstanding incinerator debt.

The Harrisburg Authority's incinerator debt has enough funds in its debt-service reserve accounts to meet a March 1 payment to investors, according to Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp.

Cash-strapped Harrisburg, Pa., could miss a March 1 debt-service payment of $2 million on debt backed by Pennsylvania’s capital city, according to city Controller Dan Miller.

With an eye beyond the next fiscal year, Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell yesterday released his fiscal 2011 budget proposal and urged a broadening of the state’s sales tax and corporate tax to help address projected deficits in the billions for fiscal 2012 and fiscal 2013.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center next week will issue $720 million of tax-exempt revenue bonds, part of the health care provider’s $1.1 billion debt refinancing plan.