Bonds

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

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

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

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

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

Puerto Rico’s economy grew in the fourth quarter of 2022, but an economist called it “non-organic economic recovery” and questioned whether it will continue. Puerto Rico’s preliminary Economic Activity Index rose 1.6% in December after a flat November and 0.4% growth in October on a month-to-month basis, the Economic Development Bank for Puerto Rico announced.

Most state officials are upbeat about the economy despite the apparent thinning out of the fat surpluses sitting in general funds and reserves, though the looming debt ceiling and prospect of a U.S. default is casting a pall over some of that optimism. That was a major theme struck by analysts and other stakeholders during

The municipal bond market has always operated at the intersection of politics and finance, but lately politics seem to have taken center stage. The latest salvo comes from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ announcement this week that The Sunshine State would move to ban local and state issuers from consideration of environmental, social and governance factors

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled a $49.6 billion general fund fiscal 2024 budget that banks on still-healthy economic trends to allow deposits into the budget and pension stabilization funds while lifting spending for education and other areas. The $49.6 billion general fund is part of a $118.9 billion spending package and taps most of $49.9

Issuers in the Far West sold $66.2 billion in municipal bonds in 2022, according to Refinitiv data, a 43% drop year-over-year from the $116.7 billion sold in 2021. California drives the nine-state region’s numbers, and a big falloff in issuance from the Golden State led the Far West to the biggest year-over-year drop of any

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said she saw a compelling case for rolling out another 50 basis-point interest-rate hike earlier this month and the U.S. central bank has to be prepared to move higher if inflation remains stubbornly high. “At this juncture, the incoming data have not changed my view that we

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

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

S&P Global Ratings’ seven-notch downgrade of a Chicago suburb’s full faith and credit pledge over default events on unrated revenue bonds casts a spotlight on management and governance factors and the risks they pose to the value of general obligation bonds. The issue has captured the attention of market participants with Fitch Ratings, which does

Municipal issuers in the Southeast sold $69.5 million of bonds in 2022, a 13.1% year-over-year decline as governments across the region decreased capital spending and braced for a potential recession, according to industry experts. After starting 2022 with volume up 35% year-over-year in the first quarter, third and fourth quarter volume dropped substantially, according to

President Biden on Tuesday urged county officials to put federal stimulus dollars to work investing in affordable housing among other things, while also touting his tax policy and infrastructure accomplishments.  Biden made his comments at the National Association of Counties conference in Washington. Biden is fresh off a well-received State of the Union Address in

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Quint Capital Corporation $35,000 and its chief executive officer Alexander Quint $10,000 for their role in allowing a broker banned by regulators to work for the firm on 25 municipal securities transactions. Without admitting or denying the findings, QCC agreed to the fine and a censure and Quint

Spline Data, a quantitative municipal bond data provider, has launched a product to give the muni market data-driven, actionable yield curves. The company’s investment-grade, fixed coupon municipal bond curves aim to use every trade, in contrast to the current municipal market pricing tools, which often reflect only round lots— about 5% of trades — according

The reduction in reserves for the Texas Permanent School Fund’s bond guarantee program does not impact the program’s triple-A ratings, according to rating analysts. The PSF disclosed Monday the Texas Board of Education took action earlier this month to lower the program’s reserves to 0.25% from 5% to help increase the availability of the guarantee

The California Chamber of Commerce is opposing a state Senate bill backed by the governor that would cap oil refinery profits and financially penalize companies for reaping excessive profits. Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, introduced SBX1 2 in December. The bill creates a system of enacting penalties, a concept first proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who