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Ohio's Record Buckeye Bond Sale Leads Week, Boosts Tobacco Debt 

Ohio sold $5.5 billion of tobacco- settlement bonds in a record deal that led long-term borrowing by U.S. state and local governments this week and calmed concerns that demand for such lower-rated debt was drying up. . . .

Among planned tobacco sales, those from Wisconsin and Louisiana include refinancing components. Puerto Rico in August shelved a $238 million proposed offering of higher-cost subordinate-lien bonds. Pennsylvania officials have yet to get full approval to borrow $500 million against their share of the windfall.

Market Grows

States, counties and other U.S. entities have sold more than $39 billion of tobacco-settlement bonds in the past nine years, according to Bloomberg data. Ohio's sale, to fund capital spending on public schools, colleges and universities and pay for a tax break for seniors, was the largest at one time.

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