Bonds

Miami International Airport leads the nation’s airports in recovering passenger traffic lost during the COVD-19 pandemic, according to a report. “We looked at the total passenger recovery levels for 10 of the largest muni market borrowers in the U.S. airport sector and found half have surpassed 2019 levels while the other half remains below pre-pandemic

Debates about the effects of using environmental, social, and governance measures to determine where funds should be invested is echoing through the public finance community and the halls of Congress.  “Democrats are trying to enshrine so called environmental, social and governance ideology into America’s financial system by removing protections for savers in the tax code,”

Fitch Ratings upgraded Illinois Tuesday ahead of the state’s general obligation bond sale later this month. The upgrade to A-minus from BBB-plus brings the state’s GOs into the single-A category from all three agencies that rate the state. Illinois plans to issue $875 million of GOs in a competitive sale the week of Nov. 27,

Texas ended fiscal 2023 with a hefty cash balance of $48.4 billion in its general revenue fund due largely to higher, but slowing tax collections, the state comptroller reported Monday.  The annual cash report for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31 said the balance rose $14.6 billion or 43.4% from fiscal 2022. After transfers

California’s plans to build a 1.8 million-acre-feet reservoir to store rainwater may finally be ready for its moment in the sun. The decades-old Sites Reservoir proposal would add capacity to California’s water storage system to see it through its cycle of severe droughts. It received a turbo boost Monday when Gov. Gavin Newsom certified the

In an Oct. 27 comment letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Federation of Municipal Analysts (NFMA) outlined its thoughts for implementing the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA). The letter, coming from a group that had previously expressed skepticism about the FDTA’s imposition of data standards for municipal reporting, was a breath

Missouri has asked a federal court to toss a lawsuit filed by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association over the state’s first-of-its-kind anti-environmental, social and governance investing rules, arguing that the securities association lacks standing to bring the lawsuit. The dispute stems from Missouri’s four-month-old investment rules that require advisors and broker-dealers to disclose

Voters in Rhode Island’ will face several local ballot questions Tuesday, mostly for for local school bonds. Rhode Island is in the midst of a state-backed overhaul of its educational facilities, many of which are deemed to be outdated and in need of replacement or renovation, and local officials hoping to tap a state reimbursement

Munis were slightly firmer in light secondary trading to start the week, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities ended the trading session up. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 69%, the three-year at 69%, the five-year at 70%, the 10-year at 71% and the 30-year at 90%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s

Fresh signs of a retrenchment among Wall Street firms came Friday with news that Citi CEO Jane Fraser is considering closing the firm’s muni trading and origination business, which some market sources saw as a trial balloon being floated by top executives to test reaction. The potential exit, reported by Bloomberg News, came as a

With a huge airport bond deal potentially on the horizon, Houston Controller Chris Brown is concerned about bringing the debt to the market in the wake of a crackdown by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on compliance with state laws prohibiting governmental contracts with companies, including investment banks, that “boycott”  or “discriminate” against the  fossil

The Biden administration Monday announced $16.4 billion for dozens of infrastructure projects aimed at improving train times and efficiency across Amtrak’s Northeast rail corridor. Biden is set to highlight the investment today during a speech in Delaware. The largest grant, totaling $4.7 billion, goes to Maryland to replace the 150-year-old Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel, considered

Municipal analysts say K-12 school districts are struggling with lower enrollment, teacher shortages and increased operating costs. With federal COVID aid drying up and other revenues falling, school district budgets are likely to suffer in the coming months and years, said Howard Cure, Evercore Director of Municipal Bond Research. In addition, with growing charter school

The Florida Legislature’s special session began Monday with lawmakers looking for ways to help residents cope with the rising costs of property insurance. Lawmakers will meet through Nov. 9 and will also debate ways to provide more help for the victims of Hurricane Idalia, fight anti-Semitism and bolster support for Israel while broadening sanctions against

Municipals rallied Friday across the curve sending triple-A yields lower by as much as 13 basis points as they continued to play catch up to the moves in U.S. Treasuries, which also saw more gains after a weaker jobs report further signaled Fed rate hikes may be done. Equities closed the week in the black.

Two major offshore wind projects in New Jersey got the ax as their developer, Danish energy company Ørsted, reassesses its U.S. portfolio citing sustained inflation and rising construction costs. Mads Nipper, Group President and CEO of Ørsted, on Tuesday said the company was “extremely disappointed” to cancel Ocean Wind 1 and 2, a pair of offshore wind

The notion of channeling federal dollars devoted to infrastructure improvement into affordable housing including office conversions located near mass transit is picking up steam. Quantifying the possibilities and costs offered by the concept remains elusive but recent research is revealing new possibilities.  “We end up concluding something on the order of 10% of the existing

Washington is banking on its high credit ratings and strong demand on previous sales as it heads to market Tuesday with a $483 million competitive refunding.  The bonds will be auctioned in two series: $296.550 million various purpose general obligation refunding bonds, Series R-2024A and $186.225 million motor vehicle fuel tax and vehicle-related fees GO

States would suffer deep cuts in water infrastructure funding they receive through state revolving funds, which make up a significant corner of the municipal bond market, under a bill passed Friday by the U.S. House of Representatives. The fiscal 2024 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations measure, House Bill 4821, totals $37.4

While municipal bond issuance has dropped precipitously the past two years amid volatile markets, environmental, social and governance debt has steadily grown despite issuer hesitation to designate it as such and an ever-more acrimonious political environment emerges over it. ESG issuance for the first three quarters of 2023 was at $27.970 billion, potentially on pace

A Pennsylvania company that operates three nursing homes is in default, and it’s a familiar story: staff shortages and a large slump in occupancy in the aftermath of the pandemic. Senior Choice Inc. failed to make interest and principal payments due Oct. 31 on its $15.9 million bond issued in 2006 by the Cambria County