State & Local Reports

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a fiscal emergency for the City of New York, creating significant revenue shortfalls and increased costs associated with managing the public health crisis. Federal relief funding has been inadequate in helping resolve the budget gaps emerging from the fiscal emergency. In response, the City has requested since May that its Transitional Finance Authority (TFA) be provided with authorization by the State Legislature to borrow up to $5 billion to maintain spending and make up for lost revenues not reimbursed by the federal or State government, a practice referred to as borrowing for operations (i.e., deficit financing). The reliance on borrowing for operations recalls stress points in the City’s fiscal history and the use of debt to manage ongoing operating gaps, which, when coupled with the City’s lack of financial management systems, policies, and procedures, and the economic environment at the time, led to the fiscal crisis of the 1970s.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the securities industry in New York City, affecting both operations and profitability. After a period of market turmoil in March, monetary stimulus and fiscal relief actions have injected massive liquidity into the economy and buoyed industry profitability. Much of the industry’s work force began working remotely in March. The industry has remained relatively stronger than other sectors, which have experienced a more severe downturn (i.e., hotels, bars, restaurants and retail).

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is facing the greatest challenge in its history. On March 1, 2020, New York City reported its first confirmed case of COVID-19, a highly contagious respiratory disease. In the weeks that followed, the caseload grew rapidly in New York City and the downstate region, and the novel coronavirus then spread across the nation. The MTA forecasts budget deficits of $3.4 billion in 2020, $6.3 billion in 2021, $3.8 billion in 2022, $2.8 billion in 2023 and $3.1 billion in 2024. The July Plan’s projected budget gaps are historic in nature. The gap in 2021 is 53 percent of total revenue. The post-2021 budget gaps as a percentage of revenue rival those during the Great Recession and are reliant on a return to 2019 ridership levels by 2023.

The primary objective of this report is to show Missouri's spending of federal assistance in the month of August 2020 for the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency and the cumulative financial activity since the state began receiving funding in April 2020.

What Was Performed? A financial statement audit of the Delaware College Investment Plan Annual Report for Calendar Year ended December 31, 2019 was performed.Why This Audit? Under 29 Del. C. § 2906, the Auditor of Accounts is releasing a financial statement audit of the Delaware College Investment Plan, or Delaware’s 529 Plan, Annual Report for Calendar Year ended December 31, 2019.Delaware’s 529 Plan, founded in 1998 through legislation, is sponsored by the State of Delaware and managed by Fidelity Investments. The Plan provides tax-advantaged accounts designed to help parents, grandparents, and others pay for education expenses, reducing the possibility of debt.