Northeast

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.

As Albany’s tortured budget negotiations near their end this week, the rest of New York is assessing how they will be affected.

New York State will pick up the debt-service tab for North General Hospital, which plans to file for bankruptcy, officials said Monday.

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.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell Friday sent a letter to Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc., urging it to work with ethanol producer Bionol Clearfield LLC to resolve differences over a purchase agreement as the oil company's demand for arbitration threatens the repayment of $65 million of tax-exempt revenue bonds.

New York City officials reached a handshake deal on the city's $62.9 billion budget last week and spent the weekend trying to hammer out the final details as the state budget remained in legislative limbo.

The $1.3 billion refinancing this week of One Bryant Park, a Midtown Manhattan office tower, may be the first deal of its kind. The New York Liberty Development Corp. Wednesday plans to issue $650 million of refunding Liberty bonds on behalf of the owners of the building, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and the Durst Organization.

Pennsylvania's capital city, Harrisburg, is seeking qualified firms to appraise city property that could generate money through a potential sale or lease and help pay down its debts.

The New York Court of Appeals ruled last week that the state can seize private property on behalf of Columbia University, which wants to expand its campus into Harlem.

Proposed legislation that would allow the State University of New York and City University of New York to set their own tuition rates would have positive credit effects, Moody's Investors Service said last week in a special comment.