Northeast

Although Pennsylvania lawmakers scrambled to pass a budget on time, Gov. Tom Corbett's major initiatives – pensions, transportation and liquor – all stalled.

Standard & Poor's has put its A-minus rating on the debt of Long Island Power Authority on CreditWatch negative.

Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission CEO Mark Compton named three persons to a committee to review contracting practices in the aftermath of a pay-to-play scandal.

Rhode Island lawmakers on Tuesday voted for a 10-cent toll on the Sakonnet River Bridge until April while a state agency considers an alternative funding plan.

Former state Assemblyman Jerry Kremer wants New York City to allow and promote European-style youth hostels, saying the move would bring millions in tourist money.

Standard & Poor's says it plans to upgrade the debt of Polytechnic Institute of New York University by six notches on January 1.

Fitch revised its outlook on Connecticut's GO bonds to negative, but state budget director Ben Barnes does not expect the change to push up borrowing costs.

David Unkovic, the former state-appointed receiver for Harrisburg, Pa., has joined the public finance group of law firm McNees Wallace & Nurick.

Moody's removed Rhode Island's GO debt from review for downgrade after the state passed an $8.2 billion budget that included a $2.5 million 38 Studios bond payment.

A New Hampshire issuer appears to be the first student loan issuer to withdraw from the Internal Revenue Service's voluntary closing agreement program to settle a tax law dispute over some of the $135.4 million of adjustable-rate education loan revenue bonds it issued in 2011.