Bond holder, government groups raise concerns about budget uncertainty amid finger-pointing
An institutional bond holder and groups representing Virginia cities and counties are raising concerns about the state’s budget uncertainty amid finger-pointing between GOP leaders in the Senate and the House.
The Senate, which returns to Richmond on May 14, has yet to refer the House budget proposals to its finance committee for consideration, adding to the uncertainty over when the General Assembly will act on the budget with the end of the fiscal year less than two months away.
Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne said he received a telephone inquiry Friday morning from an institutional bond holder that holds billions of dollars in public bonds backed by the state.
He said the institution expressed concern about ongoing scrutiny of Virginia’s financial condition by S&P Global Ratings, which downgraded the state’s fiscal outlook to negative a year ago because of Virginia’s depleted rainy-day fund.
Read more: http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/bond-holder-government-groups-raise-concerns-about-virginia-s-budget/article_4011a4a3-3f74-5dfe-9f64-622cbc80167c.html