Trends in the Regions

Gov. Kathy Hochul's "pause" on congestion pricing puts a $16.5 billion hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital plan.

California lawmakers were putting the finishing touches on the budget this week before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.

Bonds backed by hotel and restaurant bill taxes will pay for upgrades to the home of the Carolina Panthers. The team agreed to commit to the city for 15 more years.

The Ohio county seated in Cleveland is only one of many jurisdictions where officials are grappling with weakening sales tax revenues.

In a one-day special session, lawmakers passed a bill expanding an economic development bond program to finance venues for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals.

The low-investment-grade offering for a high-profile public private partnership stood out in a crowded airport sector.

Existing California law requires hospitals to be fully operational after a large earthquake by 2030. The Senate has passed a bill to extend the deadline.

The state's new law requires companies like investment banks to provide written verification of their positions, part of a trend among similar bills aimed at preventing Wall Street banks from lying about their positions, said a firearms industry lobbyist.

The legislature addressed the cost of a $329 million property tax refund in the state's largest county as well as passed a fiscal 2025 budget.

The county hopes one-time revenues will help it "live to fight another day" as it awaits a state-assisted financial plan.

The one-notch upgrade from Fitch Ratings comes as the county plans to to sell up to $900 million in two lease revenue bond deals this summer.

Oversight Board Executive Director Robert Mujica said the only recently released fiscal 2022 ACFR showed revenues and expenditures continue to be imbalanced.

Milwaukee Public Schools is months late in submitting the annual financial audit reports amid turmoil that has seen its superintendent and comptroller depart.

Controversy over where to build a new jail has delayed further issuance of $260 million of voter-approved bonds after an initial $45 million sale.

Her abrupt suspension of the tolling plan for Lower Manhattan leaves a $15 billion hole in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital budget.

"The shortage of accountants is not a brand new-issue, but it seems to be more thematic this year," said Richard Ciccarone, president emeritus of Merritt Research Services.

Observers say the problems of KentuckyWired has lessons for all public-private partnerships.

The lawsuit filed in 2017 points to funding disparities when public school districts turn to local property taxes and bond issuance for capital funding.

Connecticut's GO deal is expected to benefit from its improving fiscal reputation, embodied in two rating outlook revisions to positive ahead of the pricing.

Democratic leaders in the Assembly and Senate said they restored some of Gavin Newsom's proposed deficit-reducing cuts in their budget proposal.