Northeast

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

As New York lawmakers work on the state’s fifth emergency spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, other measures have quietly found their way into law.

Gilt-edged Delaware Tuesday will sell $124 million of tax-exempt general obligation bonds that will refinance existing debt to generate present-value savings for the state.

Affordable housing developers in New York are finding underwriters and tax-credit investors for their deals, but the market is tougher for newer entrants than it was in the boom years, panelists said yesterday.

New York’s fiscal crisis could spur short-term borrowing by school districts if the state ­delays some of the $3.8 billion in aid payments due to districts in June.

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.

New York Gov. David Paterson late Tuesday called for furloughing many state employees one day each week until the Legislature passes a fiscal 2011 budget. The state has been operating under emergency spending bills, without a budget in place, since the fiscal year began April 1.

Connecticut lawmakers yesterday privately negotiated measures to close an estimated $700 million budget gap for the next fiscal year. Still up in the air is a $1.3 billion securitization plan that would likely involve the issuance of tax-exempt bonds.

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.