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Chattanooga, Tennessee’s issuer default rating and general obligation rating were downgraded to AA-plus by Fitch Ratings. The outlook is stable. Fitch explained the downgrade, which stemmed from the implementation of Fitch’s revised local government rating criteria, by citing a weak population trend and midrange demographic and economic level metrics. The city had $351 million in

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump shined no new light on the economic and tax policies important to the municipal bond market during their high-stakes debate Tuesday night, though brief mentions of housing, energy policy and tariffs carry modest interest to participants. “The debate was pretty light in general,” said Matt Fabian,

House Republicans are turning up the heat on their war against environmental, social and governance considerations in capital markets, this time going after proxy advisors who provide ESG-related services to investment officers. That was the subject of a House Financial Services Committee hearing Tuesday, which quickly descended into a partisan battle on whether investors need

Robust weekly issuance has become the norm over the past several months, as pent-up capital needs, dwindling federal aid and front-loaded issuance have prompted state and local governments to come to market in earnest. The pace of issuance is not letting up, leading some strategists to revise their 2024 volume forecasts higher again. HilltopSecurities recently

Freda Johnson’s influence, leadership and mentorship has touched many women and men in public finance over more than four decades in the industry.  When her career began, the industry was not an easy one for women. “In order to succeed, Freda of course was very smart and capable, but I think she persevered at a

If it weren’t for S&P’s policies — and the ability to go part-time when her children were young — Robin Prunty says she wouldn’t have had the career she had. Even after spending 17 years as a part-time analyst, she was able to return as a manager in 2009 and lead analyst — and would

When Community Memorial Hospital in Hicksville, Ohio, shuttered on Aug. 31, it became the latest small-town healthcare provider in the Midwest to run into insurmountable financial trouble. The hospital in the rural community of 3,114 residents closed its doors for good three months after the state’s tax commissioner rejected its request to file for Chapter

Municipals were steady to slightly firmer in spots while the primary market took focus with at least 17 deals over the $100 million market hitting the screens led by billion-dollar-plus pricings from Washington, D.C., and Illinois. The New York City TFA priced $1.5 billion for retail investors and Chicago accelerated a pricing of water revenue

When Citi shuttered its storied public finance division in December, nearly all of the firm’s roughly 120 bankers quickly landed new positions in the municipal market. But banker Archana Chandrasekhar hit the pause button for several months and ended up veering off in a fresh direction. “I was so busy for 16 years that I