Bonds

The Municipal Forum of New York presented three awards to industry leaders and veterans at its annual awards and leadership fellows fundraising dinner.  Recipients included Marjorie Henning, retired deputy comptroller for public finance for the New York City Comptroller’s office; Albert Simons, retired partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe; and New York City Budget Director

Virginia Beach tapped the municipal bond market to help fund a surf park development backed by multi-Grammy award winning artist Pharrell Williams.  The Virginia Beach Development Authority priced about $189 million of debt on Thursday with some of the bond proceeds financing the construction of a 3,500-person entertainment venue, parking facilities and land acquisitions, as

Municipals were steady to slightly weaker in spots ahead of a $12 billion-plus calendar, while U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities were mixed near the close There are nearly 30 new-issues over $100 million on tap across the credit spectrum, led by the week’s largest negotiated deal from Harris County, Texas, with $950 million of

A Senate Finance Committee hearing led by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, contemplated ways to smooth funding for rural hospitals as the number in the red has spiked in recent years. Rural hospitals and clinics across the U.S., including in Oregon, have been particularly hard hit by the challenges facing healthcare over the past several years.

States are casting around for solutions to a drop in gas tax revenues which includes hiked registration fees and the expansion of toll roads, which remains politically sensitive.  “Various projections from state DOTs, think tanks, and economists show that gas tax revenue, which is the largest source of revenue for state transportation trust funds, is

The Federal Reserve’s delay of interest-rate cuts in a bid to temper inflation runs the risk of falling behind the curve, according to Mohamed El-Erian. “The Fed pivoted on the basis of data. It was the opposite of the pivot that they did in December — now they have to do a U-turn,” El-Erian, the

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking to halt the trend of property insurers exiting the state, citing losses, by expediting how quickly they can increase rates. Newsom announced plans to draft a trailer bill to speed up work done by the state’s Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara during Friday’s briefing on May revisions to his proposed

Municipal bonds saw a touch of weakness in spots as the last large issues of the week priced while municipal bond mutual fund flows show retail engaged and high-yield continuing to outperform the broader investment-grade market. U.S. Treasuries faced some pressure on a slew of economic data and Fed speak that gave participants pause on

After nearly a year of negotiations and four short-term extensions, and a week after the Senate passed it, the House Wednesday approved a bipartisan $105 billion Federal Aviation Administration bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk two days before the agency’s spending runs out. The 387-26 vote passed a bill that features a solid bump

Fitch Ratings last week upgraded Milwaukee’s issuer default rating and general obligation rating to A-plus from BBB-plus. The outlook is stable.  Milwaukee benefited from Fitch’s new rating criteria, rolled out last month, which incorporate most of the credit factors that Fitch has considered historically but include additional analytical factors and now assign specific weightings to

Brightline West is providing a road map for rail projects looking for federal funding as their planned route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas includes union labor, train sets built in the U.S. and teaming up with Uncle Sam to get the financing done. “Governments have a superpower as it relates to expediting these projects,”

Municipals were little changed in secondary trading Tuesday as a large new-issue calendar took focus in the primary, led by a $1.5 billion retail order from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority. U.S. Treasuries were firmer across the curve and equities were up near the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Tuesday was at 64%,

Despite recent spread-widening and underperformance by the tobacco bond sector due to falling cigarette sales and tobacco usage, it has been supported by solid demand for high-yield paper and strong technicals behind it. Good demand for tobacco bonds accounts for the small spread widening and underperformance, said John Miller, head and chief investment officer of

Municipals were little changed Monday as the market awaits another heavy new-issue calendar and an upcoming inflation report. U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer and equities were mixed near the close. While muni yields were steady Monday, yields fell last week, with 10-year notes falling seven basis points to end the week at 2.65%, said Jason

Amid a major federal government push to get rid of lead in water service lines, many municipalities are struggling to keep up.  One city has been ahead of the curve: Pittsburgh, which recently celebrated removing 11,000 lead pipes. The Pennsylvania city has around 6,000 pipes to go, and estimates that it will finish around 2026. 

Municipals were a touch weaker in spots ahead of another robust new-issue calendar. U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities were up. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Friday was at 63%, the three-year at 62%, the five-year at 60%, the 10-year at 60% and the 30-year at 81%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s 3 p.m. EST

The Senate Thursday overwhelmingly passed a five-year Federal Aviation Administration authorization that features a 20% boost for major airport capital improvement projects. The bipartisan measure, which had been stalled by negotiations over an ultimately successful move to add additional flights to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, heads now to the House, which is expected to

The Virginia General Assembly is set to pass a new budget next week after a saga that saw the state’s Republican governor and the Democratically controlled legislature clash over environmental issues, school funding, and pay-fors.     Although the budget deal still needs to be officially approved during the special session that begins Monday, Gov. Glenn

Chicago’s iconic lakefront is also its portal to water supplies from Lake Michigan, serving not only the city but 120 of its suburbs. But Chicago’s top suburban customer and Illinois’ largest water wholesaler, the DuPage Water Commission, now says it plans to strike out on its own. The commission revealed this week that it has

The long-planned Kentucky-Ohio Brent Spence Bridge won environmental approval from the Biden administration Friday, a “major milestone” for the bistate project that’s been in planning for more than 10 years. “This is an important step forward in bringing efficiency to our nation’s supply chain,” said said Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine. “The project will address one

Current strategies to deploy public and private capital toward a green energy transition are experiencing mixed success, amid conflicting trends as both global oil demand and clean energy deployment rates rise together, according to panelists at the Milken Institute’s Global conference this week in Beverly Hills. “As many folks know, we aren’t doing that well