The expiration of the bipartisan infrastructure law may be three years away, but it’s not too early for state transportation advocates to begin considering Congressional priorities for the next surface transportation funding bill. “We want to be ready,” said Joung Lee, deputy director and chief policy officer of the American Association of State Highway and
Bonds
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson may have secured a short-term win in passing a “laddered” continuing resolution to keep parts of the government funded until Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, but the measure will likely create many more legislative issues and earmark the early months of 2024 for more dysfunction in the Republican-controlled House.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission will issue $125 million of bonds over the next few years to finance its share of a major terminal modernization project at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The commission, which already sold $60 million of bonds for the Terminal 1 project as part of a nearly $372.7 million subordinate airport revenue
The judge in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy case rejected the bond parties’ objections to the Oversight Board’s supplemental disclosure statement, a major step toward confirming the deal, which sets recovery for some bondholders at as little as 3.5% of par. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain asked the board to make minor
Miami-Dade County, Florida’s almost $500 million taxable seaport revenue bond deal, which was expected in late summer was postponed due to rising interest rates but is still expected to be sold. The postponement affected the planned sale of the $499.2 million of Series 2023 senior lien seaport revenue bonds to be issued by Miami-Dade County
As the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act nears its second anniversary, the Biden administration is still striving to close the gap between awarding transportation grants and actually getting the cash to the states and cities that have won the money. Shortening that timeline remains a top priority for the administration, Federal Highway Administration CFO Brian
Villanova University in Pennsylvania is rescuing bondholders who own debt sold by Cabrini University, a small Roman Catholic school that announced it would close in 2024 after struggling financially for years. Cabrini, which has about 1,600 enrolled students, announced in June that it would sell its campus to its large neighbor, Villanova University, which boasts
The Bond Buyer announced the recipients of its annual Deal of the Year awards, marking the 22nd year it has recognized outstanding achievement in municipal finance. Winners have been named in 10 categories: one in each of The Bond Buyer’s five regional areas of coverage, along with five in additional categories. All award winners will
Megan Kilgore, auditor for the city of Columbus, Ohio, and Virginia Wong, partner and practice group leader of Project Finance and Public Finance at Nixon Peabody, are the 2023 public and private sector Freda Johnson Award winners. The awards, given by the Northeast Women in Public Finance, are named for Johnson, a founding board member
Municipals were firmer across the curve, but underperformed a U.S. Treasury rally after a lower consumer price index report indicated the Federal Reserve may soon be done hiking rates. Equities also rallied. “The Fed looks smart for effectively ending its tightening cycle as inflation continues to slow,” said Bryce Doty, senior vice president and senior
A tranche of economic development revenue refinancing bonds issued by the Arkansas Development Finance Authority has been found to be taxable by the Internal Revenue Service. The ruling affects $5.43 million of paper issued by the ADFA in 2016. The issuer has received notice from the IRS via form 5701-B that includes a proposed adverse determination,
A group of former Democratic California lawmakers have filed an amicus brief arguing against current Democratic lawmakers’ efforts to block a voter initiative that would require voter approval for any increase in state or local taxes. Former Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata, former Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Roos, and former Assemblymember Joe Coto
Both regulators and the wide swath of municipal issuers, around 40,000 in total across these United States, will likely have to decide in the coming months and years how much or how little a role artificial intelligence will play in the development of standards mandated by the Federal Data Transparency Act. The FDTA was passed
Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Transcription: Lynne Funk: Hello everyone, and welcome to another Bond buyer podcast. I’m Lynn Funk, executive editor at The Bond Buyer, and I am excited to welcome Steven Winterstein, founder of SP Winterstein and Associates, which he opened in June. His firm
Indianapolis plans to issue bonds this week to finance the city’s entry into the convention center hotel business with a deal that has put a small smudge on the city’s shiny bond ratings. The city through its Indianapolis Local Public Improvement Bond Bank is selling $591.8 million of debt to finance construction of what will
After a lawsuit-driven delay, financing is beginning to flow for a major economic development deal between Georgia and electric vehicle maker Rivian. The Georgia Office for Economic Development and the Joint Development Authority for Morgan, Walton Counties announced last week they closed on $5 billion of project revenue bonds and executed a rental agreement with
Moody’s Investors Service revised its rating outlook for the Aaa-rated District of Columbia to negative Monday, matching its Friday action on the United States government. At the same time, the rating agency affirmed the Aaa issuer ratings and stable outlooks of Florida, Maryland and Virginia. The actions follow Friday’s outlook revision on the United States
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bond parties that oppose the Oversight Board’s proposed debt deal filed suits challenging part of the deal, asked for compensation for Puerto Rico central government’s actions since March 2022 and proposed an alternate bond deal. The parties filed the suits this weekend in the U.S. District Court for Puerto Rico
Municipals were steady to start the week, while U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer and equities ended mixed. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 65%, the three-year at 66%, the five-year at 67%, the 10-year at 69% and the 30-year at 89%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s 3 p.m., ET, read. ICE Data Services
A massive fire in downtown Los Angeles damaged a section of Interstate 10, halting traffic on one of Southern California’s key arteries. Crews responding to the blaze Saturday found a large, 200-by-200-foot storage yard with pallets, trailers and vehicles engulfed in fire, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. Wind pushed the heat and flames under the
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Knoxville, Tennessee-based Home Financial Services $50,000 for its failure to disclose execution times, mark-ups, mark-downs and related supervisory failures on customer confirmations for thousands of municipal securities transactions. Without admitting or denying the findings, Home Financial has consented to the fine and a censure. The action arose from