Bonds

The Illinois Supreme Court Friday upheld pension consolidation legislation championed by Gov. JB Pritzker that was challenged in court by more than a dozen suburban and downstate police and firefighter pension funds.  The case, Arlington Heights Police Pension Fund et al. v. JB Pritzker et al., had pitted the governor and General Assembly against a

Federal transportation and housing funding will continue to flow until early March after Congress late Thursday passed a short-term appropriations bill a day ahead of a partial government shutdown. “There will not be a shutdown on Friday,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Because both sides have worked together, the government will stay open.

Two public finance professionals helped craft legislation that added whole categories of residential care facilities to the list of borrowers eligible to issue debt through the California Health Facilities Financing Authority. Assembly Bill 839, authored by Assemblymember Dawn Addis, D-Morro Bay, and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October, allows nonprofits that operate independent living,

Municipals were weaker Thursday amid another busy new-issue day while municipal bond mutual funds reported inflows. U.S. Treasuries yields rose and equities were up near the close. Muni yields rose up to eight basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose up to six basis points at 30 years. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio

Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp’s proposed amended fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2025 budget includes spending some of the surplus revenue the state has taken in on capital projects rather than issuing bonds this year. The state is estimated to have about $11 billion in surplus cash in its coffers, according to the state Department of

Municipals faced rising yields in the secondary market Wednesday while large new-issues priced in the primary market. U.S. Treasuries were weaker again, and equities saw more losses. The Investment Company Institute Wednesday reported large inflows into municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Jan. 10, with investors adding $2.066 billion to funds following $77

The state of Wisconsin is embarking on a flurry of debt-related activity as the year begins, with a cash defeasance and three refunding deals that may include tenders on the table in the first quarter. The defeasance was made possible by the state’s 2023-25 biennial budget, which included $400 million to pay down outstanding general

Munis were slightly weaker to start the holiday-shortened ahead of several large new issues, but the asset class outperformed U.S. Treasuries on the day. Equities saw losses. Muni yields were cut up to four basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose eight to 11 basis points. Munis have “struggled to get out

With a sharp decrease in revenue growth expected in fiscal 2025, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham proposed a $10.5 billion spending plan that she said maintains hefty reserves that help cushion state coffers from volatility in the fossil fuel industry, which generates tax and other revenue.  “Here’s my promise to New Mexicans in future

Municipals were little changed ahead of a holiday-shortened week, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer 10 years and in and equities were mixed near the close. The muni market, as expected, has “remained in a sideways mode” so far in this year with muni-UST ratios grinding lower, said BofA Securities strategists in a weekly report. While

Puerto Rico Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Financial Officer Francisco Parés Alicea will resign effective Jan. 31. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi announced the resignation and said Nelson Pérez Méndez will serve as the interim Secretary of the Treasury. Pérez Méndez was deputy director of the Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, focusing on the central

Washington state’s rating outlook was revised to positive from stable Thursday by S&P Global Ratings, citing the state’s growing economy and strong reserves. The outlook revision means there is a one-in-three chance the state could have its AA-plus rating upgraded to AAA by S&P over the two-year outlook period, said Oscar Padilla, an S&P director.

UBS has settled charges with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, agreeing to a censure and a $100,000 fine for failing to include the Non-Transaction Based Compensation indicator when reporting 91,059 municipal securities transactions to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. For this, UBS violated MSRB Rule G-14 on customer transaction reporting, which requires firms to report

First Eagle Investments has hired John Suh and Andrew Belsky as credit analysts as the firm continues to build out its high-yield team under Chief Investment Officer and high-yield manager John Miller. Suh, based in New York, previously was a trader/analyst on the high yield desk in JPMorgan’s public finance division. He was at JPMorgan

In September 2015, then Bank of England Governor Mark Carney gave a speech in which he famously referred to the “Tragedy of the Horizon.” He was referring to the fact that financial markets tend to mis-price climate risk because the perceived timing for such risk lies far into the future, beyond the normal investment horizon

The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday saw its issuer rating and debt ratings from Moody’s Investors Service upgraded a notch, to Ba1 from Ba2 — still speculative grade, but one level below investment-grade status. The rating outlook remains positive after the upgrade. Moody’s cited improvements in Chicago Public Schools’ operating fund net cash balance,

California’s budget shortfall is $30 billion less than the $68 billion deficit forecast by the legislative analyst’s office in November, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday as he unveiled his proposed $291.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2024-25. Even his estimated $37.9 billion deficit will still require some tough choices as Newsom and lawmakers work on

The U.S. Virgin Islands government is short on cash for its operations and its governor is asking the legislature to borrow $55 million to cover them. Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. will send his financial team to a Virgin Islands Senate hearing next week to argue for a change in usage for a letter of credit

Municipals continued to experience a short-end correction Wednesday amid a busy day in the primary market which saw Jefferson County, Alabama’s, mega sewer refunding deal price along with a billion-plus of Massachusetts GOs offered to retail. U.S. Treasuries were slightly weaker out long and equities were in the black near the close. The municipal AAA

Jeff Landry was sworn in as the state’s 57th governor on Monday, while John Fleming was sworn in as state treasurer and Elizabeth Baker Murrill took over as state attorney general. In an October election, Landry, a conservative Republican, replaced Democrat John Bel Edwards, who was term-limited out of office. He had been the state attorney

Municipals saw a short-end correction Tuesday, with the one-year being hit the hardest, amid two large deals in the primary market. U.S. Treasuries were little changed and equities ended down. Triple-A yields rose six to 11 basis points on the short end, as more investors put pressure there amid what many consider to be too