Northeast

Fitch handed New Haven, Conn., its latest downgrade, citing eroded reserves in assigning A-minus. City officials say they were disappointed but understood the move.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded the enhanced rating of bonds issued by DASNY for a school district to A3 from A2.

The Massachusetts Senate passed a $1.4 billion housing bond bill, with a conference committee to reconcile it with a House version and submit to Gov. Deval Patrick.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has awarded the first of three separate contracts for the East Side Access project, it announced Monday.

Boston College has scheduled a $335 million bond sale in two tranches, with proceeds to benefit capital projects. Barclays is the lead manager.

Maine's general fund finished fiscal year 2013 with a roughly 2% surplus.

Issuers in the Northeast sold almost $44.3 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2013, according to Thomson Reuters data, down more than 25% from the same period a year earlier.

New York City can learn valuable lessons from Detroit's bankruptcy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, despite the contrasts between the two cities.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is close to releasing a notice aimed at helping issuers avoid a "disclosure vacuum" similar to the one that brought federal enforcement actions down on Harrisburg, Pa. earlier this year.

Massachusetts officials urged the state's congressional delegation to reject proposed legislation that they say would threaten funding for water projects.