Northeast

While much has been made of a deficit-borrowing proposal in New York, less attention has been paid to how those bonds would force fiscal discipline through bond covenants.

TRENTON, N.J. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie yesterday unveiled his first budget proposal, a $29.3 billion plan for fiscal 2011 that is $2.9 billion smaller than the current budget and fills a $10.7 billion deficit.

New York City is in the market this week with two bond deals that when completed will total $1.26 billion of taxable and tax-exempt debt.

Negotiations to end a dispute over development at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan continued Thursday ahead of an arbitration deadline today. In January, an arbitration panel gave developer Silverstein Properties Inc. and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 45 days to reach an agreement on how to proceed with the construction of three towers.

A financial oversight board would have the power to effectively prevent New York from issuing state-backed debt if the state’s budget isn’t balanced, under a plan proposed yesterday by Lieut. Gov. Richard Ravitch.

Harrisburg, Pa., will operate under a budget that does not include payments for debt service on outstanding incinerator bonds after the City Council Tuesday evening declined to override Mayor Linda Thompson’s budget veto.

New York Comptroller Thomas ­DiNapoli yesterday called for a constitutional amendment to require most state-backed debt be approved by voters and issued by his office.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell yesterday proposed the construction of a new hospital and health care facilities that would use $227 million of state general obligation bonds and other funding sources.

New York Gov. David Paterson has long railed against deficit borrowing to help the state out of its fiscal mess, but such a plan could be under discussion, the governor said yesterday.

Allegheny County officials are working on a $2 billion initiative to expand public transportation between downtown Pittsburgh and its Oakland neighborhood — the city’s academic and cultural hub — and to boost mass transit within Oakland itself.