Northeast

Rhode Island General Treasurer Gina Raimondo is opposing an attempt by Gov. Lincoln Chafee to reduce a $2.6 million taxpayer obligation to the pension fund.

Reeling Providence received another rating downgrade late Monday when Moody's Investors Service lowered the Rhode Island capital's general obligation bond rating one level to Baa1 from A3, affecting $55.6 million of outstanding debt.

The New York Liberty Development Corp., which issues debt to help rebuild the World Trade Center, led the inaugural Bond Buyer 100 list of top bond issuers for 2011.

New York's recently enacted pension reform, projected to save more than $80 billion over the next 30 years, is a favorable development for the state and its municipalities, Moody's Investors Service said in a report on Thursday.

Some lawmakers want to fine-tune Pennsylvania's program for distressed communities, commonly known as Act 47, after it took a serious blow last fall from a state Supreme Court ruling about public employee arbitration.

Harrisburg’s City Council will schedule a public hearing within days over the Pennsylvania capital’s missing audits from 2009 and 2010.

With the Pennsylvania General Assembly considering legislation to rework the redevelopment assistance capital program, state Treasurer Rob McCord offered additional changes that he said would enhance the capital budget process.

New York’s tax collections through February were ahead of projections, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said after releasing the monthly cash report for February.

New York City sold $470 million of new-money general obligation bonds by competitive sale last week, including $100 million of taxables and $370 million of tax-exempts.

New York State comptroller Thomas DiNapoli is conducting an audit of the city of Long Beach, which declared a fiscal emergency last month and faces a $10.25 million deficit.