The Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District heads to market Thursday with the biggest deal of the week, a $550 million issue of revenue bonds that will help fund continuing renovations to the Caesars Superdome. BofA Securities and UBS are set to price the Series 2023A senior revenue bonds, which consist of $519.945 million of tax-exempts
Bonds
The Supreme Court has, without comment, declined to hear Ohio’s challenge to the American Rescue Plan’s Offset Provision, which bars states from using COVID-19 relief money to offset reductions in tax revenue. The decision not to take up the case, urged by the Treasury Department, is the second time this year that the nation’s highest
The latest salvo in the saga of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy, bondholders want the proposed plan of adjustment to not take effect until all appeals are exhausted. Bondholders said in an objection filed with the court that the result of their planned appeal of Judge Laura Taylor Swain’s decision against their lien
Municipals were steady Tuesday largely ignoring a weaker U.S. Treasury market after the consumer price index print showed inflation cooling. Equities closed higher. The consumer price index report showed headline inflation rose 0.1% year-over-year. Ahead of this week’s policy meeting, Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer Inc., said UST “bond yields have
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday signed into law a $51 billion two-year spending plan that includes what he called the largest cuts in the 32-year history of the state’s income tax. The plan, which passed with strong majorities last week in both arms of the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature, allocates $25.1 billion to fiscal 2024
Municipals were steady ahead of this week’s consumer price index print and Federal Open Market Committee meeting. U.S. Treasuries were slightly firmer on the front end and equities were up near the close. The two-year muni-Treasury ratio Monday was at 64%, the three-year at 67%, the five-year at 68%, the 10-year at 69% and the
Bond traders are underestimating how much Tuesday’s Consumer Price Index report will show the inflation rate dropped last month, according to Citigroup Inc. strategist Raghav Datla. Datla’s assessment is partly based on comparing traders’ positioning now relative to back in January. Just five months ago, the market was coming off two consecutive lower-than-forecast CPI prints.
Federal officials have pledged resources to help Pennsylvania rebuild a busy section of Interstate 95 through Philadelphia that collapsed Sunday after a tanker truck caught fire. The federal aid will help the Commonwealth manage what’s expected to be months-long repair of what Gov. Josh Shapiro called “just remarkable devastation.” Federal help will mitigate immediate costs
The municipal bond market expanded in the first quarter of the year as ownership by households, mutual funds, foreign investors and life insurers rose, but U.S. bank ownership of municipal securities fell, the latest Federal Reserve data shows. The first quarter of 2023 has been regarded as a markedly better start than 2022 and that
Facing projections its unfunded liability for retired city worker benefits like health care would balloon to about $9 billion over 30 years, Houston last week created a trust, which along with previous cost-saving measures, are aimed at greatly shrinking that obligation. The other post-employment benefits (OPEB) trust was part of a $6.2 billion all-funds, fiscal
The American Securities Association has named Patrick Bond as its new vice president and head of public affairs, where he’ll lead the group’s communications and public affairs strategies and help to advance its policy agenda. The addition comes after the group added muni industry veteran Jessica Giroux, following her departure from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking
Changes to Illinois state pension benefits that may be needed to comply with federal Social Security rules carry an estimated $5.6 billion tab through 2045, according to an actuarial study published this week. State employees hired after 2010 get lower pension benefits than those hired before. Pension experts have long warned the Tier 2 benefits
A lawyer for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders argued Thursday that if a receiver had been in place early on in the PREPA bankruptcy process, they would have controlled him or her and therefore raised rates to repay bonds in full. Assured Guaranty Attorney Mark Ellenberg argued that to be the case in
Municipals were little changed Friday ahead of a smaller new-issue calendar, outperforming a weaker U.S. Treasury market for another session. Equities ended up. Triple-A yields were mostly flat while UST yields rose up to nine basis points on the front end, pushing muni to UST ratios there lower. The two-year muni-Treasury ratio Friday was at
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority approved a $2.72 billion fiscal year 2024 budget that features $174 million in new spending amid declining revenues and expectations of a budget shortfall. The MBTA executive board voted unanimously on Thursday to approve the plan and a 7% bump in year-over-year spending amid predictions for a 10% dip in
The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has introduced the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, a bipartisan bill that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration’s funding over the next five years, expanding the Airport Improvement Program and including a number of improvements aimed at improving workforce and services of the aviation
Deploying greater use of bond financing to cure the county’s affordable housing shortage is getting a fresh look in the Senate via the Affordable Housing Bond Enhancement Act. The bill, which was introduced Tuesday, is cosponsored by Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev. and Bill Cassidy, R-La. The legislation takes aim at expanding the use of mortgage
Fresh off two successful municipal bond sales, the city of New York plans to keep moving ahead with the bond issuance that funds its capital program. On June 1, the city sold $1.56 billion of general obligation bonds in a deal comprised of $1.41 billion of tax-exempts and $151 million of taxables. Proceeds refinanced outstanding bonds for savings. The city
James Molloy, head of municipal banking at Citigroup Global Markets for the past five years, will soon be leaving to pursue a long-time career objective of working in the non-profit sector. Dan Tomson and Paul Creedon, co-heads of public finance at Citi, will take over Molloy’s responsibilities and will serve as co-heads of municipal banking.
Preston Hollow Community Capital and Nuveen expect to close next month on a deal giving Nuveen a stake in its smaller rival in the high-yield muni space. The investment featured prominently in a settlement ending PHCC’s four-year-old legal pursuit of Nuveen for using what one judge labeled as “lies” and “threats” to damage its access
Gov. Kay Ivey made Alabama the latest GOP-dominated state to enact a law designed to limit the application of environmental, social, or governance factors by private sector businesses. SB261, which took a little under a month to make it from committee proposal through the Republican-dominated state legislature to the governor’s desk, seeks to shield some