State of Florida

Florida's official outlook indicates the state government faces a $10 billion deficit by mid-2028 without major tax and spending changes.

A coalition of metropolitan planning organizations and transportation officials along the Interstate-4 corridor approved a resolution supporting further development.

The deal, originally planned at $1.5 billion in three maturities, was downsized and restructured and then restructured again into one 10-year bullet maturity.

As anti-Israel protests grow at universities across the United States amid a rising tide of anti-Semitic incidents, state and local governments are buying Israel bonds in a show of financial and moral support.

The finance team is "marketing slices of risk" to raise money to refinance its debt, investors said.

"We were originally thinking that we would offer five-, seven- and 10-year maturities, with $500 million in each tranche. But we decided today to just offer 5s and 10s — $500 million of five-year bonds and $1 billion of 10-year bonds," said Ben Watkins, Director of Florida's Bond Division.

Since war broke out on Oct. 7 between Israel and Hamas, over $1.64 billion of Israel bonds have been sold to more than 35 U.S. states, counties, cities and municipalities.

Since Gov. Ron DeSantis took office in 2019, Florida has paid down $5.3 billion of state debt, or about 25% of the Sunshine State's total debt.

The bill allows local governments to bypass public bidding and notice requirements in current P3 law.

Analysts say states can avoid short-term issues as a result of strong reserves but some may face challenges over the longer term.