S&P has a new report out with some calculations surrounding the MTA's forthcoming 2010-2014 capital plan, . The plan is $28 billion, 20 percent bigger than the program for 2005 through 2009. Of the $28 billion, $9.9 billion -- 35 percent --� Read More
Gov. Paterson has a that would have weakened oversight power of the Buffalo Fiscal Stabilization Authority. As the Buffalo News , this was the second legislative attempt in the past year to remove the city from "hard" control status, w Read More
Wall Street may have one last party, and it could come at the expense of its hometown and home state getting their houses in order. New York could better get on with life if President Obama and Congress would figure out how they're going to approac Read More
Today’s New York Times that state and local government tax-funded pension contributions in New York may triple over the next five years should come as no surprise to anyone who has made an effort to understand the current system and its p Read More
Last week, Fiscal Watch if the $3.2 billion in IOUs that the State of California is issuing in lieu of cash payments are Constituti Read More
Small towns are losing millions of dollars on derivatives bets just when they can least afford to lose money. Why are we surprised? Read More
March isn't half over yet -- but we already have a winner! Even with the state budget unsettled (with all that implies, bad ideas-wise), the worst idea of the month is surely a proposal by state Sen. Carl Kruger for avoiding East River bridge tolls Read More
With more than $200 billion in federal stimulus money going directly to states, one might think that the feds were done bailing out the not-so-thrifty of the fifty (plus Puerto Rico). Municipal Market Advisors, which studies the state and l Read More