Southeast

BRADENTON, Fla. — Atlanta elected a new mayor after a recount and took steps to make the city eligible to sell $34 million of Recovery Zone facility bonds allocated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to offer its first public-private partnership concession earlier than planned next year with two metro Atlanta interstate highway projects estimated to cost more than $2 billion.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida Legislature late Tuesday finished work on a bill enacting a statewide comprehensive passenger rail policy and providing funds for existing and new rail projects.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has ordered another $54.3 million in budget cuts, as revenue projections have persistently outpaced actual collections.

Collections resulting from Louisiana’s state tax amnesty program totaled $450.6 million, more than triple the amount expected when it began. Another $15 million was generated through tax settlements that were not eligible for the program, the Department of Revenue said Monday.

Gilt-edged Georgia has refinanced approximately $658 million of its outstanding general obligation bonds at lower interest rates that will save the state more than $35 million of debt service, including $18.3 million in the state’s current fiscal year, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced.

Florida’s Senate president, Jeff Atwater, R-Palm Beach, has announced the creation of a new Senate Budget Office to provide greater oversight of legislative expenditures.

Voters in Birmingham went to the polls on Tuesday to elect a new mayor but a crowded field of more than a dozen candidates on the ballot resulted in a runoff to be held Jan. 19 between Patrick Cooper, an attorney who led with 40% of the ballots cast, and Jefferson County commissioner William Bell, who took 25% of votes.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Florida House yesterday passed a bill adopting a statewide passenger rail policy and creating a commission to oversee existing and new rail projects.

DALLAS — More students enrolled in Louisiana’s public schools and more state prisoners held in local jails are the two main factors in a potential fiscal 2010 budget shortfall of $145 million outlined Friday to lawmakers by Commissioner of Administration Angèle Davis.