States and local governments have until the end of August to apply for up to $5.5 billion in newly available funding under a trio of major infrastructure programs that the White House opened up Tuesday. The announcement comes as the Biden administration kicks off a national tour highlighting infrastructure investments, a cornerstone of President Joe
Bonds
Houston emerged from the Texas Legislature’s 2023 session with mixed results as one new law could erode its home-rule powers, while another will help it finance a convention center expansion. Mayor Sylvester Turner’s office released a report Monday on bills passed by the Republican-controlled legislature affecting the state’s largest city, calling the session that concluded
Detroit plans to return to the market as soon as next month with a $100 million offering of voter-authorized general obligation bonds to speed up blight removal and fund parks and transportation projects. The Detroit Financial Review Commission, put in place by the state to provide oversight of city finances and monitor compliance with its
The budget agreement reached by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and lawmakers late Monday provides a lifeline to struggling transit agencies, but comes with strings attached. The parties negotiated all weekend without reaching an agreement, making it seem likely they would come barreling up to the Friday deadline ahead of the July 1, 2023-24 fiscal year
Transcription: Chip Barnett (00:03):Hi and welcome to another edition of The Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Chip Barnett and my guest today is Virginia Wong. She’s a partner with Nixon Peabody, where she leads the law firm’s project finance and public finance practice group. And today we’re going to be focusing on effective mentorship and building
The Federal Aviation Administration’s reauthorization process may not be a major opportunity for the nation’s airports to reinvent themselves due to the large amount of funding passed in recent years, but it does present an opportunity for them to identify the challenges they still face. “Because of the airports really doing well in the earlier
Vikram Rai, head of Citi’s municipal strategy group, has left the firm, he announced on Monday, after his position was eliminated. “Today was my last day at Citi,” he said in an email to clients. “I got cut,” he told The Bond Buyer. “I’m looking for a new job now.” Rai is an outspoken and
A federal bankruptcy court judge sided with Detroit in a ruling Monday that the police and fire pension system lacked authority to bypass the city’s Chapter 9 plan of adjustment and cut 10 years off the amortization of unfunded liabilities. The Police and Fire Retirement System voted in 2021 to shift to a 20-year amortization
Richard Ravitch, one of the financial saviors of New York City’ during the near bankruptcy of the city in the 1970s, died Sunday. He was 89, just over a week shy of his 90th birthday. Ravitch, a former Lt. Governor of New York State and chair of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was an
Municipals were steady to start off the week, awaiting an outsized new-issue calendar, while U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer 10 years and in and equities ended mixed. Despite the slow start for munis, “buyers are becoming more constructive, and there’s increased buying going on,” said Pat Luby, a CreditSights strategist. He said this week’s $6.9
A Florida state agency is selling municipal bonds to backstop the state’s homeowner’s insurance industry sector a surge of claims and litigation drove some insurers to shutter. The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, which handles the claims of insolvent insurers, plans to borrow $600 million in the muni market, according to preliminary offering documents. It is
The Puerto Rico Oversight Board slashed its allotment for Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders by more than 50% Friday, saying it could guarantee a payment of just 12.5% of par to non-settling bondholders. The bondholders are owed $8.5 billion of par value, but the board said Friday PREPA can afford to pay just $2.4
Minnesota expects to save $226 million in interest payments due to its early payoff Monday of outstanding debt from a 2014 issue that covered the public tab for the Minnesota Vikings’ stadium. The state enacted electronic pull-tab gambling to help repay a $498 million appropriation-backed bond issue with a final 2043 maturity for the NFL
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is on a mission to eventually eliminate property taxes that fund public school district operations, but he’s having a hard time getting a legislature controlled by fellow Republicans to agree on a way to take a major step towards that goal. The Lone Star State is not alone in its struggle.
Capital Markets Advisors and Richard Ganci , formerly municipal advisors to Rochester, New York, have requested partial judgment against Securities and Exchange Commission claims that they misled investors, ignored signs of financial distress and failed to disclose material conflicts of interest to nearly 200 municipal clients. That’s the latest in the lawsuit against the City
For an industry historically averse to change, the municipal market is slowly beginning to incorporate artificial intelligence into workflow systems, tools that succinctly summarize documents, such as official statements, as well as internal and external communication systems. But it is far away from broad acceptance for an industry dependent on human interaction to get business
Former Nevada Treasurer Kate Marshall is on the short list to be chancellor for the Nevada System of Higher Education. Marshall was state treasurer from 2007 to 2015. After an unsuccessful candidacy for secretary of state, she won election as lieutenant governor in 2018. She resigned in 2021 to become a special assistant to President
A nearly 30-year-old rule restricting solicitation of municipal securities business would be reconsidered under a Republican environmental, social and governance-related investment bill that also tackles other high-profile muni market issues. The bill, introduced last week by Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., would examine the effectiveness of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-38, which prohibits a dealer
Municipals were slightly firmer Friday ahead of a larger new-issue calendar with bellwether names, as U.S. Treasuries were stronger to close out the week while equities ended in the red. The $6.9 billion new-issue calendar features several high-grade deals, including nearly $1 billion of refunding general obligation bonds from Massachusetts, $886 million of GOs from
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey on Thursday announced a five-year, $14 billion capital plan that would lean on a mix of funding to carry out work across the state. The fiscal 2024-2028 Capital Investment Plan, Healey’s first capital spending proposal since taking office, includes spending for housing development, transportation, and green energy. “We’re also expanding support
Broker-dealers remain hopeful for policy issues vital to the municipal bond market including restoring advance refunding and raising the bank-qualified limit following a Bond Dealers of America fly-in event Thursday. Representatives of BDA member firms descended on Congress in a lobbying blitz that included visits with lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee and the