Southeast

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist Friday signed into law a $70 billion budget for fiscal 2011.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida last week received $66.6 million out of $80 million in federal grants distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation for high-speed rail development.

WASHINGTON — Virginia is reviewing its public-private partnership program to ensure the state can most efficiently leverage private funds as its transportation revenues have dwindled amid the economic recession.

DALLAS — Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Tuesday he would attempt to negotiate a budget dispute that is hampering the state’s efforts to deal with a revenue shortfall in fiscal 2010.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Nashville’s consolidated government next week is selling between $575 million and $775 million of new-money and advance refunding general obligation bonds to finance capital projects and restructure outstanding debt to avoid tax hikes and budget cuts.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida’s AAA implied general obligation rating is “not affected at this time” because of the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, Standard & Poor’s said in a special bulletin released yesterday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Moody’s ­Investors Service yesterday said that credit quality in Tennessee could be affected over the long term because of floods earlier this month that saw federal disaster declarations for 45 counties covering nearly half the state.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Kentucky General Assembly yesterday began what is expected to be a week-long special session attempting to break an impasse over the biennial budget and appropriate funds for upcoming debt-service payments.

BRADENTON, Fla. — As the Deepwater Horizon oil spill expands, attorneys in Florida have begun talking about devising an emergency financing program for a quick clean-up response.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Just ahead of a planned sale of up to $775 million of general obligation bonds, Moody’s Investors Service has placed the Aa1 rating of Nashville’s consolidated government on watch for possible downgrade, citing the devastating recent floods and tornadoes, among other reasons.