Bonds

Property insurers’ growing reluctance to insure homes exposed to severe weather should raise a red flag for the municipal bond market, which so far has shrugged off risks but will soon have to grapple with major climate-driven shifts in credit quality and bond prices. That’s according to panelists who spoke Thursday during a webinar titled

Hawaii Department of Transportation airport division revenue bond ratings and bonds issued by the state backed by car rental fees were upgraded by Fitch Ratings, which cited full recovery on enplanements. Fitch upgraded the airport’s $1.7 billion in revenue bonds to AA-minus from A-plus and $111.6 million in certificates of participation to A-plus from A

Dealers are stepping up lobbying efforts and bringing the Municipal Bonds for America Coalition, a group headed by Bond Dealers of America, back into view as the tax debate begins again. The coalition, comprising investors, underwriters, municipal advisors, insurers and bond counsel has pounced on the idea of tax reform after President Biden made tax

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker delivered her $6.29 billion fiscal 2025 budget, five-year financial and strategic plan and six-year capital program to the City Council on Thursday, with plans to hit the bond market. The fiscal 2025 proposed capital budget requests about $295.67 million in new city-backed general obligation bond borrowing and $583.38 million of prior

To toll, or not to toll, that is the question for Oregon lawmakers as they continue work on a comprehensive plan to create a sustainable revenue stream that will support the state’s transportation infrastructure. Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek sowed confusion on Monday when she halted plans to toll Portland-area freeways, citing uncertainty about freeway project

Municipals were weaker Thursday, but outperformed U.S. Treasury market losses, as the final large deals of the week priced, including several housing issues. Equities ended down. Municipal bond mutual fund inflows continued for the third consecutive week as LSEG Lipper reported investors put $295.5 million into the funds for the week ending Wednesday with high-yield

IDEA Public Schools in Texas will operate under state oversight as part of a settlement agreement with the charter school network, which was the target of a probe since 2021 into alleged financial and operational improprieties. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) appointed two conservators to oversee and direct IDEA’s actions, facilitate a needs assessment, conduct

In an April 2 special election, voters in Missouri’s Jackson County, home of Kansas City, will decide whether to impose a countywide sales tax to direct more than $50 million per year for 40 years toward a new ballpark in the Crossroads district of midtown Kansas City. In addition to funding a new stadium for

BofA Securities has hired three former Citi employees to help it grow and expand into aviation technology and housing securitization. The latest hires from Citi are Bob DeMichiel as a managing director and senior investment banker for the airline and transportation sector, and Raymond High and Mike Koessel as directors and senior investment bankers for housing and securitization.  “These

Fitch Ratings affirmed the A rating on Miami-Dade County, Florida’s $1.8 billion of senior lien seaport revenue bonds issued for the county’s seaport department, PortMiami. The rating outlook is stable. The senior lien bonds are secured by a first-lien pledge of seaport net revenues. Fitch has also rated the $442.5 million of the county’s Series

In the Closing Remarks of a Compliance Conference on Dec. 7, the Director of the Office of Municipal Securities of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission noted the SEC recently finalized its cybersecurity rule for public companies. The Director then suggested that “everyone take a minute to review the Adopting Release for the rule because

As the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation hits the halfway implementation mark, federal officials are urging municipalities to lobby for a reauthorization. The BIL, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, promised over a trillion dollars of infrastructure funding to states, municipalities, and Native American tribes when it was launched in 2021. The money comes with

The Florida state legislative session ended Friday with lawmakers approving a $117.46 billion budget for fiscal 2024-2025, up 0.8% from the $116.5 billion fiscal 2023-2024 budget. This year’s budget provides another $500 million toward accelerating the debt pay-down. The general fund budget totals roughly $49.4 billion, a 7.2% increase from the current fiscal year’s budget

Municipals were little changed Wednesday as two billion-dollar-plus deals from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and CommonSpirit Health took focus. U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities were mixed. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 59%, the three-year at 59%, the five-year at 57%, the 10-year at 57% and the 30-year

Expansionary fiscal policy, Biden’s industrial policy and strong consumer spending are expected to outweigh higher interest rates and restrained growth, decreasing the likelihood of a recession in 2024, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast. January’s drop in retail sales and housing starts was due more to the weather in the eastern U.S. than a pullback

The Kansas Department of Transportation expects to head to the municipal market this summer with its first bond issue to help finance a $10 billion, statewide transportation improvement program.  The $200 million of bonds backed by state highway fund revenue will be sold in a negotiated deal for the 10-year Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program, which

High-speed rail would win $205 billion of federal support over five years under a bill introduced last week that’s gained 30 co-sponsors, all Democrats, and support from high-speed rail and labor groups. Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., introduced the American High-Speed Rail Act, H.R. 7600, to invest in the development of

Stifel has hired Joseph Narens, who spent a decade at Citi, to oversee the firm’s institutional high-yield trading across the firm’s municipal securities business line. Narens joined Stifel Wednesday as managing director and head of High Yield Municipal Trading. Prior to joining Stifel, Narens spent 10 years at Citi, most recently as the head of

Chicago plans to issue $80.865 million of senior lien airport revenue refunding bonds for Midway International Airport in a deal that would replace variable-rate debt and associated swaps with fixed-rate bonds. The pricing date is flexible, said city of Chicago Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski. “The Midway deal is day to day,” Jaworski said, adding

Parties to the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy are arguing the fairness of four deals and whether the participants’ votes for them should be disqualified. On Monday afternoon the Puerto Rico Oversight Board asked U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain to reject Syncora Guarantee’s and GoldenTree Asset Management’s request for the classes’ votes

To address concerns about a healthcare shortage in western Wisconsin, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Feb. 28 signed a bill that made available $15 million in healthcare grants to hospitals to help them provide services. The $15 million — which Evers, a Democrat, urged the state legislature’s Republican-controlled Joint Finance Committee to release immediately —