Bonds

With the plan of adjustment hearing for the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority less than a week away, arguments remain over five legal objections to the plan. Insured bondholders, Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Agency and Financial Advisory Authority, HTA wage earners, an insurance company, and a dairy are challenging the plan.  The plan of adjustment

Smaller-sized cities and towns worried they won’t be able to snag a piece of the infrastructure dollars unleashed in the new federal law have until the end of the month to apply for a first-of-its-kind program aimed at boosting their chances. The “specialized training boot camps” led by the National League of Cities will help

The federal infrastructure package will boost Illinois’ six-year transportation spending by $4 billion, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday. The state will spend an overall $24.6 billion under the six-year program for roads and bridges with $3.7 billion in spending during the current fiscal year. About $18.8 billion goes to roads with the remainder spent on

California lawmakers’ focus on one-time spending in the budget approved July 1 keeps the state on track for a potential rating upgrade one year out from receiving a positive outlook from S&P, but challenges remain. The state’s fiscal 2023 adopted budget “projects long-term structural balance through fiscal 2026, despite a projected multibillion dollar rise and

Short-end munis sold off Friday as pressure from two-year U.S. Treasury yields as well as rising floating-rate muni yields have begun to hit the triple-A yield curves. Treasuries were better five years and out while equities rallied to close out the week. Triple-A curves saw yields rise by as much as eight to 10 basis

The U.S. House of Representatives Friday sent President Joe Biden a long-debated climate, tax and healthcare bill. The legislation passed with a vote of 220 to 207 along party lines. Biden’s signature will mark the final chapter for an 18-month-long saga marked by intense negotiations among Democrats, who used a parliamentary procedure called reconciliation to

Municipals were weaker on the short end and mutual fund outflows returned Thursday while U.S. Treasuries saw losses across the curve and equities ended mixed. Triple-A curves saw yields rise as much as five basis points on the one-year while leaving yields a basis point weaker to little changed along the rest of the curve

If all goes according to plan, municipal markets will see the largest ESG bond pricing ever next week as Massachusetts prepares to issue $2.7 billion of taxable business-tax backed special obligation revenue bonds. The sale of the socially designated bonds was delayed in July as state lawmakers debated a last-minute spending bill that would allocate

Chicago’s heads into 2023 budget season with a $127.9 million gap to close, offering the market a key fiscal update as the buy-side heads to town for the city’s annual investors’ conference. The shortfall unveiled by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her finance team Wednesday marks a sharp decline from the last three years. Lightfoot came

Two Federal Reserve officials responded to softening inflation data by saying it doesn’t change the U.S. central bank’s path toward even higher interest rates this year and next. Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari, who prior to the pandemic was the central bank’s most dovish policy maker, said Wednesday that he wants the Fed’s benchmark interest

An oversight panel on Tuesday approved $500 million of bonds for the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority subject to conditions that include the dismissal or resolution in its favor of two lawsuits challenging a toll road extension plan and state supreme court validation of the debt. The Oklahoma Council of Bond Oversight gave the OTA until Feb.

It was all about the primary Tuesday, with a lightly traded secondary market taking the back seat doing little to move triple-A yield curves in either direction, as large deals from Minnesota, the Los Angeles Department of Airports, San Antonio, Texas, and Philadelphia were the focus. U.S. Treasuries were weaker on the short end and

Cook County, Illinois, heads into the market this week with two deals totaling nearly $500 million that will benefit from an outlook from boost from Moody’s Investors Service over its healthy fund balances. The $215 million sales tax transaction pricing Tuesday offers two tranches to refund outstanding debt and take out a credit line that

It was a steady start to the week, with municipal triple-A yield curves little changed, U.S. Treasuries took a break from last week’s volatility to close out firmer across the curve while equities were mixed. Muni-UST ratios on Monday were at 61% in five years, 81% in 10 years and 97% in 30 years, according

The Senate is set to take action Saturday on a newly inked budget reconciliation bill that continues to lack municipal market priorities but includes climate and energy provisions that issuers support. Under a deal struck to gain the vote of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., the bill now features a slightly revised 15% corporate minimum tax

The indictment of former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez on bribery charges damages the reputation of her political party, according to some analysts, but since her party is the only one advocating statehood for the island, the pain may be limited. Still, the arrest should have no impact on how long the Puerto Rico Oversight

A budget impasse that’s left Trenton, New Jersey, without an approved budget well into the new fiscal year continues, despite a recent brush with default. Beset by political rivalries, the state capital’s seven-member City Council, which must approve annual spending according to local law, has as of yet failed to produce the majority vote necessary

The Ontario City Council approved a sales tax measure Tuesday for the November 8 ballot to fund $1.2 billion of infrastructure projects, and other local governments in California are expected to take similar steps. The November midterms are expected to be particularly popular this year for tax and bond measures among cities, counties and school

Municipals sold off Friday with the front end of the curve being hit the hardest, though damage was felt across the curve. Triple-A benchmarks outperformed a U.S. Treasury rout where yields rose double-digits, and equities were down near the close. Nearly all triple-A benchmark yields were cut six to 10 basis points and UST yields

Retired Wisconsin Capital Finance Director Frank Hoadley — who left an influential mark on the public finance industry as a champion of issuer advocacy and best marketplace practices — died unexpectedly this week. He was 77. Hoadley was traveling with his wife, Elizabeth, in Scotland when he died. “Frank Hoadley was a giant among the

The Federal Reserve is committed to cooling inflation and needs to raise interest rates to a little above 4% to ease demand, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester said. “We’re committed to getting inflation down” to the 2% target, which will require more rate increases, Mester said during an event hosted by the Economic

Municipals were mostly steady as mutual fund inflows topped $1 billion, while U.S. Treasuries were firmer in most spots and equities were mixed near the close. Investors poured $1.094 billion into municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, versus the $236.491 million of inflows the week prior, per Refinitiv Lipper data reported Thursday. It

Puerto Rico bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain approved the extension of mediation discussions for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority for the fourth time this year. Swain ordered the mediation to continue to at least Aug. 15, with the mediation team being given the authority to extend the mediation deadline until Sept. 9. In late

While elevated expenses persist in battering not-for-profit hospital operating margins, the sector received one dose of good news this week as the federal government raised the Medicare payment rate for inpatient care. Hospitals can expect more than $2.6 billion of additional payments under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ fiscal 2023 Hospital Inpatient Prospective

Federal Reserve officials said they want strong evidence that the hottest inflation in four decades is on a sustainable downward path before declaring victory in their fight against it. With consumer prices rising 9.1% in June from a year earlier, the Fed has “a long way to go” on reaching price stability around a 2%

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Municipal Securities has a new deputy director and is seeking a financial analyst to join its team in either of its Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Atlanta or Chicago offices. That’s according to an SEC spokesperson and a posting on USAJOBS, the official job portal for the federal government.

Municipals were mostly firmer to kick off August, while U.S. Treasuries rallied out long and equities were in the red near the close. Muni-UST ratios on Monday were at 67% in five years, 84% in 10 years and 98% in 30 years, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. read. ICE Data Services had the five

A handful of House Democrats who advocated for an increase in the state and local tax deduction cap appear ready to support the latest budget reconciliation bill that omits such provisions, dealing a blow to issuers who were proponents of SALT reform. The representatives may be the deciding votes for the package to pass through

July municipal bond issuance dropped 32% year-over-year, with many issuers holding back as they awaited the Federal Reserve’s latest rate hike. The smaller figure was led once again by dramatic drops in taxable and refunding volumes. Total July volume was $25.598 billion in 520 deals versus $37.573 billion in 1,013 issues a year earlier, according

Minnesota has a trio of triple-A general obligation ratings after Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the state to Aaa from Aa1 on Thursday. The rating agency cited the state’s financial condition, governance, and “high degree” of flexibility to raise revenue and adjust spending for the upgrade, which comes ahead of an approximately $591.5 million new money