A Congress that just narrowly avoided a government shutdown is getting a fresh wish list from a wide cross section of organizations of issuers, including calls for preserving the tax exemption on municipal bonds.   The letter originates from the Public Finance Network, which encompasses twenty-four issuer organizations including the Government Finance Officers Association, the National

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.

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

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority staff came under fire from their own auditor general for misleading communications and a “breach of transparency” regarding cost overruns and delays on the $12.2 billion San Jose extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. The project would extend BART, a commuter railway, through downtown San Jose into Santa

A trial over Missouri’s first-of-their-kind ESG investment rules will go ahead after a federal judge this month rejected the state’s motion to dismiss. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association sued the Show Me State last August over a pair of four-month-old anti-environmental, social and governance securities rules. The measures require advisors and broker-dealers to

Municipal bonds were slightly weaker Friday ahead of an $8.4 billion new-issue calendar and the last full week of January. U.S. Treasuries were mixed on the day while equities saw another session of gains as markets continue to digest the unlikelihood of any Federal Reserve rate cuts in the first quarter. Triple-A yields rose two

HilltopSecurities hired six former UBS professionals as part of a wider plan to expand its public finance footprint. “We remain committed to adding professionals nationwide to our public finance business who offer a full product solution set to their clients,” said Brad Winges, president of HilltopSecurities. “This is the first group of many hires that

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

Lake Erie College, a small private school in Ohio, entered into a forbearance agreement with bondholders after the school didn’t meet certain covenants it agreed to as part of a debt sale.  The Painesville, Ohio-based institution, which has just over 700 undergraduate students, is the latest small college to see its financial struggles extend into

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 Federal Reserve should be able to “methodically and carefully” lower its interest rate target this year, if inflation continues to moderate, Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said Tuesday. “When the time is right to begin lowering rates, I believe it can and should be lowered methodically and carefully,” Waller said in a Brookings event.