Northeast

New York Gov. David Paterson's order to withhold $582 million of payments from school districts was unconstitutional, plaintiffs charged in a lawsuit filed in State Supreme Court in Albany yesterday.

In a reprise of last year, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday passed a "doomsday" budget that slashes services, but on a delayed schedule.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans major service cuts next year to deal with revenue shortfalls in the current month and beyond, the agency announced yesterday.

New York municipalities are pooling their bond issuance to take advantage of “super BABs” this week in what is expected to be the first of up to five deals.

The Delaware River Port ­Authority plans to issue roughly $715 million of new-money and refunding debt in late February to finance capital projects and replace fixed-rate debt with variable-rate bonds under terms of a swap option that will be exercised Jan. 1.

Providence would get a $76 million streetcar system to meet the city’s growing transit needs under recommendations in a report that was released by the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority last week.

Gov. Donald Carcieri last week appointed Ioanna Morfessis as executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp., subject to state Senate approval.

Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell last week announced the state had identified buildings and parcels of land to be sold to raise money under its enacted budget.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey passed an austere $6.3 billion operating and capital budget yesterday that keeps operating growth at zero in 2010. The agency also cut its 2007-2016 capital plan by $5 billion to $24.5 billion.

New York Gov. David Paterson said yesterday that he will order the withholding of payments to local governments to deal with a $1 billion shortfall this month.