Bonds

The Georgia Ports Authority and the Army Corps of Engineers have signed an agreement to expand the Port of Brunswick, a move state officials said will help prepare the port for expansion. The agreement, announced Monday, clears the way for the Corps to begin dredging and widening certain sections of the port to accommodate larger

Two of the Federal Reserve board’s seven governors abstained from supporting the selection of former Obama aide Austan Goolsbee to become president of the Chicago Fed, according to a record of the vote. Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller, who were both appointed to the board by former President Donald Trump, withheld their support for

Tax-exempt bonds for sports stadiums are once again in the crosshairs under a bill introduced this week by Oregon Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer. The bill would amend the tax code – or “close a loophole,” as Blumenauer said – to eliminate the federal tax exemption for bonds that finance or refinance capital expenditures for a

Property tax cuts and expanded school vouchers will be fast tracked for consideration by Texas lawmakers after Gov. Greg Abbott included them in a list of emergency items for the legislative session. In his Thursday evening State of the State address, the Republican governor also said he will soon announce a $100 billion transportation infrastructure

The Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp. plans to price $135 million of special revenue bonds Wednesday to support its affordable mortgage program for first-time and lower income home buyers. The issuer, also known as RIHousing, is the state’s housing finance agency. The largest of the three tranches of Homeownership Opportunity Bonds is the

Municipals were weaker Friday ahead of a holiday-shortened week with a smaller new-issue calendar. U.S. Treasuries were firmer, and equities ended mixed. Triple-A benchmarks were cut three to 11 basis points, depending on the scale, pushing the one-year muni above 3% and the 30-year to 3.50%. UST yields fell two to five basis points. Muni-UST

A big Texas bond deal to recover extraordinary costs incurred by natural gas utilities during a fierce 2021 winter storm finally won approval Friday from a state board, paving the way for pricing next month.  The Texas Bond Review Board approved the issuance of up to $3.6 billion of taxable customer rate relief bonds by

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is seeking comment on draft amendments to Rules G-47 on time of trade disclosures and D-15, which defines the sophisticated municipal market professional. The draft amendments to Rule G-47 codifies existing guidance, adds additional disclosures that may be material, retires and consolidates certain elements of interpretive guidance and makes other

Municipals extended their sell-off Thursday, as the front end of the curve was hit the hardest. U.S. Treasuries were weaker, and equities ended in the red. Triple-A benchmarks were cut 13 to 17 basis points at the one-year, depending on the scale, pushing it to around 3%. Muni-UST ratios rose on the short end. The

Puerto Rico Oversight Board member Justin Peterson and other observers of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy criticized what they said was the board’s attack on U.S. revenue bonds in the lien adversary proceeding and called for state attorneys general to intervene. “The board’s actions and arguments in the PREPA lien adversary proceeding are

Municipals sold off Wednesday in secondary trading, with the short end seeing the largest cuts, as several large deals priced in the primary. U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended mixed after a strong retail sales report. Triple-A benchmark yields were cut six to 16 basis points, depending on the scale, pushing the one-year muni

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard’s pending departure to the White House has spurred speculation over who would replace the influential dove as policymakers weigh how much further to raise interest rates. President Joe Biden, who named Brainard as the new head of the National Economic Council on Tuesday, may be nowhere near deciding whom

Municipals were weaker Tuesday, while USTs saw yields rise and equities ended mixed after a hotter-than-expected consumer price index report showed inflation may take longer to combat, and require higher rates, than the Federal Reserve planned. Triple-A benchmarks were cut one to six basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose nine to

Post-COVID turnover in the state and local workforce, including elevated numbers of retirements and resignations, is forcing municipal bond analysts to rethink their assessment of pension risk — the possibility that pension and other postemployment benefit costs grow so much that they impair a bond issuer’s ability to pay its debts.  Pension actuaries use assumptions

Municipals were weaker in spots Monday as they face difficult technicals, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer five years and out and equities rallied. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 52%, the five-year at 54%, the 10-year at 60% and the 30-year at 87%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had

Total 2022 municipal bond sale volume plunged 19.5% from 2021, as issuers were flush with cash and rising interest rates stymied refundings and taxable issuances. Continued market volatility, inflation hitting four-decade highs, and uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions kept issuers on the sidelines. Total volume in 2022 was $389.094 billion in

Michigan is considering a large, first-time road tolling program that would establish a public tolling agency and new borrowing credit to shore up a long-struggling road funding system. The toll program, which would begin with nearly 600 of mostly interstate miles, would also be somewhat unusual in that it would build on existing roads. Most

Illinois’ consolidation of suburban and downstate police firefighter pension fund assets cleared a second legal hurdle but it could take a decision from the Illinois Supreme Court to clear the path for full participation in the plan. Kane County Circuit Court Judge Robert Villa last May upheld the law and an appellate court this week

The Florida Legislature concluded its special session on Friday and passed new laws that renamed the Reedy Creek Improvement District and put its control in the hands of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Legislature approved a bill in April to dissolve all independent special districts created before 1968. The bill’s authors and DeSantis made it clear it was intended to punish the

Nearly half of Puerto Rico’s residents will be exempt from paying a proposed charge to support the restructured Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bonds, the Puerto Rico Oversight Board said. The amended proposed PREPA plan of adjustment, filed Thursday, calls for a monthly fixed $13 fee and a volume-based charge for use up to 500

Municipals were weaker Friday ahead of next week’s heavier new-issue calendar. U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities were mixed. Triple-A benchmark yields were cut up to five basis points, depending on the scale, while U.S. Treasury yields rose three to eight basis points, pushing the two-year UST above 4.50%. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at

Municipals were mixed Thursday as inflows into muni mutual funds returned, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker, and equities ended down. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 53%, the five-year at 54%, the 10-year at 60% and the 30-year at 87%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the three at

Citigroup was dropped Thursday from an upcoming $3.4 billion Texas bond sale after being recently barred from underwriting government debt in the state. The Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corporation board reconstituted the deal’s underwriting syndicate, removing Citigroup as a co-manager. Last month, the Texas Attorney General’s Office announced it will no longer approve any

Arizona public schools will avoid big budget cuts next month after the state legislature suspended a constitutional spending limit for a second straight year. The measure that will allow districts to spend $1.38 billion over the aggregate expenditure limit (AEL) passed the House on Tuesday and Senate on Wednesday with enough bipartisan votes to meet

Municipals were weaker in secondary trading, with the largest cuts seen on the short end, while a $1.2 billion deal from the New York City Transitional Finance Authority took focus in the primary. U.S. Treasuries were better, and equities ended in the red. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 54%, the five-year at 55%, the

The fiscal health of most state’s general funds has some paying cash for infrastructure projects instead of issuing bonds in a rising rate environment, though it appears some states are beginning to reach the end of the windfall. State officials ruminated on the state of their budgets during an event hosted by the National Association

Municipals were weaker once more, while U.S. Treasury yields rose out long, and equities ended up. Triple-A benchmark yields were cut up to seven basis points, depending on the scale, pushing the one-year above 2.50%. The last time the one-year was above 2.50% was Jan. 10. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 53%, the five-year

Transcription: Keeley Webster (00:03): Hello, this is Keeley Webster, west coast senior reporter for The Bond Buyer.  Today I have with me Rudy Salo, a partner with Nixon Peabody who specializes in transportation bonds. Transportation is suffering through a Dickens moment. It is the best and worst of times. The push towards electric vehicles is

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said January’s strong jobs report raises the possibility that the central bank will need to increase interest rates to a higher peak than policymakers had previously expected. If a stronger-than-expected economy persists, “It’ll probably mean we have to do a little more work,” Bostic told Bloomberg News

Siebert Williams Shank & Co. LLC has named Gary Hall president of its infrastructure and public finance department, the firm announced Monday. Hall is based in the company’s west coast headquarters in Oakland, California. SWS is the nation’s largest woman- and minority-owned non-bank financial firm. Gary Hall, a partner at Siebert Williams Shank, has been