Bonds

Municipals were little changed ahead of the Fourth of July, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended up. Triple-A yields were steady, while UST yields rose three to eight basis points. Municipal to UST ratios fell as a result. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 59%, the three-year at 61%, the five-year at

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy averted a government shutdown Friday, signing into law a record-setting $54.3 billion fiscal 2024 spending plan hours ahead of a July 1 budget deadline. The budget records an $8.3 billion surplus and features $5.4 billion of new spending in addition to major tax code changes and tax-relief provisions. For the

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, “is at risk of a severe fiscal crisis,” according to a U.S. Government Accounting Office report. The CNMI had $114 million of debt outstanding as of September 2020, much of it bond debt, according to its most recent audited statement. The government at that time

Illinois headed into the new fiscal year with fresh deposits to its rainy-day and pension stabilization funds, a low bill balance, and $1 billion in available general revenue funds — hitting several high marks on some fiscal metrics that had sunk during the state’s budget impasse six years ago. The state ended the year with

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board Friday approved the commonwealth’s fiscal 2024 budget that increases government spending and was already approved by the governor and local legislature. The budget consensus marks a departure from the long history of disagreements between the territory’s elected government and the board created by the federal government to restructure Puerto Rico’s

Municipals were steady to end the month and first half of the year ahead of a paltry new-issue calendar which will see next week’s volume drop to the lowest level of 2023. U.S. Treasuries were firmer out long and equities rallied. Treasuries saw yields fall by as much as seven basis points on the long

Dallas is moving ahead with plans to finance the replacement of its convention center and improvements to Fair Park starting with the private placement in August of short-term debt, which would be refunded as part of a sale of at least $1.4 billion of long-term bonds in 2024. The city council June 14 authorized work

Connecticut Green Bank is offering a seventh round of its one-year taxable Green Liberty Notes in a sale set to conclude on July 31. With buy-in starting at $100, the notes are geared towards retail investors, carry a 5% coupon rate, and will be issued through CGB Green Liberty Notes LLC, a subsidiary of the

June municipal bond issuance dropped 9% from 2022 as uncertainty over Federal Reserve policy and market volatility continued, but the total was the highest month of the year. June’s total volume was $34.436 billion in 744 issues, down from $37.775 billion in 984 issues a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data, and lower than the

Beating the legally mandated July 1 deadline to produce a balanced budget, New York Mayor Eric Adams and City Council have agreed on a $107 billion spending plan for fiscal 2024. “The agreement we reached today comes in the midst of a budget cycle dominated by great challenges and unexpected crises, but I am proud

Not-for-profit hospital balance sheets are on the mend from last year’s challenges that inflicted deep damage on balance sheets, but pressures persist and the recovery is slow going, according to reports published this week. Hospital finances showed signs of stabilizing in May with some improvement in operating margins, declining expenses and notable increases in outpatient visits,

Connecticut is just days away from welcoming the first newborns in the state to benefit from its newly launched baby bond program. At midnight July 1, children born in the state — whose births are covered by Husky, Connecticut’s Medicaid program — will see $3,200 deposited in a trust managed by the State Treasurer’s office,

U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain rejected a request by bond parties for her to certify interlocutory appeals of her decisions in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy. In a Wednesday hearing, Swain said she did not see a reason to reconsider her May decision rejecting certifying an appeal to her decision against a

The Treasury Department teamed up Tuesday with the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture to showcase several Inflation Reduction Act programs targeted at rural municipalities and non-profit entities, also highlighting clarifications on direct-pay rules that may incentivize some projects to use taxable municipal bonds for clean energy projects.

Pension funding-related threats to Chicago and Illinois’ fiscal health are on the rise, reports published this week warn. Chicago and Illinois — longtime examples of outliers nationally on the size of their unfunded liabilities and funded ratios — have made progress, with Chicago now making payments more closely aligned with an actuarial calculation and both

Bank of America is seeking to resume its municipal-bond underwriting in Texas after a nearly two-year pause because of a Republican-backed law targeting banks over their gun policies, according to public records obtained by Bloomberg.  Bank of America, the nation’s biggest muni underwriter, hasn’t managed debt sales by Texas or its cities since two GOP

Vikram Rai, head of Citi’s municipal strategy group, has left the firm, he announced on Monday, after his position was eliminated. “Today was my last day at Citi,” he said in an email to clients. “I got cut,” he told The Bond Buyer. “I’m looking for a new job now.” Rai is an outspoken and

Minnesota expects to save $226 million in interest payments due to its early payoff Monday of outstanding debt from a 2014 issue that covered the public tab for the Minnesota Vikings’ stadium. The state enacted electronic pull-tab gambling to help repay a $498 million appropriation-backed bond issue with a final 2043 maturity for the NFL

Municipals were slightly firmer Friday ahead of a larger new-issue calendar with bellwether names, as U.S. Treasuries were stronger to close out the week while equities ended in the red. The $6.9 billion new-issue calendar features several high-grade deals, including nearly $1 billion of refunding general obligation bonds from Massachusetts, $886 million of GOs from

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday announced a five-year, $14 billion capital plan that would lean on a mix of funding to carry out work across the state. The fiscal 2024-2028 Capital Investment Plan, Healey’s first capital spending proposal since taking office, includes spending for housing development, transportation, and green energy. “We’re also expanding support

Broker-dealers remain hopeful for policy issues vital to the municipal bond market including restoring advance refunding and raising the bank-qualified limit following a Bond Dealers of America fly-in event Thursday. Representatives of BDA member firms descended on Congress in a lobbying blitz that included visits with lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee and the