Bonds

The judge in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy ruled bondholders had no lien on the authority’s revenues, which could result in bondholders recovering as little as 0.21% of their principal. The Puerto Rico Oversight Board has introduced a plan of adjustment where that would be the payout if the judge ruled the bondholders

A bill prohibiting state and local government contracts with large banks that “discriminate” against the firearm industry cleared the Republican-controlled Oklahoma House Wednesday as lawmakers try again to enact a ban. Ahead of the 74-19 vote, House Bill 2218 was amended to apply only to financial institutions with at least $50 billion in assets. For

The Biden administration will need to cover a significant new funding gap if California’s controversial bullet train is to remain on track. But it’s unclear whether federal support, if it materializes, would be sufficient to overcome the tough economic environment, political opposition on state and federal levels and constantly rising costs that dog the nation’s

Wall Street has worked itself into a lather debating the merits of regulators’ proposal to impose retail auctions as part of a broader U.S. stock-trading overhaul. But the Securities and Exchange Commission’s best-execution proposal, largely dismissed as duplicating an existing Financial Industry Regulatory Authority edict, could have wide-ranging implications for trading firms in options, bonds,

Whether the not-for-profit hospital sector earns its exemptions from taxes and the related ability to issue tax-exempt debt takes center stage in a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. The foundation’s report values the benefits of tax-exempt status for hospitals at nearly $12 billion more than the amount of discounted and free care they provided in

Municipals were mixed Wednesday as U.S. Treasuries rallied following the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to hike rates a quarter point. Equities sold off. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 64%, the three-year at 65%, the five-year at 67%, the 10-year at 69% and the 30-year at 93%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET

Austin transit officials offered scaled-down options for a partly bond-financed light rail system Tuesday as escalating costs pressure the project financially and politically.  The Austin Transit Partnership, which was created by the city and its Capital Metro Transportation Authority to build Project Connect, unveiled five, lower-cost options for the system. “This is an exciting day

South Carolina lawmakers are moving to remove the state’s elected comptroller from office after a $3.5 billion accounting blunder went unnoticed by his office for a decade. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom is facing removal by a legislative vote this month for “willfully neglecting his duties” aftera state investigation into his office concluded he was responsible

The Washington state Senate’s capital construction budget would nix Gov. Jay Inslee’s plan to issue $4 billion in housing bonds to spur construction and expedite efforts to lessen the state’s housing crisis. In December, Inslee released a housing proposal as part of his budget that included placing a referendum on the ballot for the bonds,

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders asked a magistrate to intervene on discovery issues but were rebuffed. Magistrate Judith Dein, who is handling discovery matters, denied the request because the Oversight Board said it was still considering bondholders’ discovery requests. She ordered the sides to continue to negotiate, with the bondholders filing a status report

Municipals were little changed Tuesday, while U.S. Treasuries extended their sell-off and equities rallied. The two-year muni-UST ratio was at 60%, the three-year at 60%, the five-year at 63%, the 10-year at 66% and the 30-year at 91%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the two at 64%, three

Municipal bonds remain a viable, high-quality source of liquidity for banks, experts say, although they are divided about whether the collapse of two regional banks will curtail or eliminate the sector’s ownership of municipal bonds. Following the collapse of California-based Silicon Valley Bank on March 10 and New York-based Signature Bank on March 12, experts

Charter school revenue bonds issued for northern California-based Summit Public Schools were downgraded three notches to Ba3 from Baa3 by Moody’s Investors Service and their outlook was revised to negative from stable. The rating change affected $22.6 million in charter school revenue bonds sold by the Redwood City-based charter school system. “The downgrade to Ba3 reflects the

Illinois plans to sell up to $2.5 billion of general obligation debt before the fiscal year closes June 30 in its first primary market outing to benefit from upgrades that put two of its ratings in single-A territory. The state plans to sell up to $1.5 billion of new money and is eyeing another up

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the City Council paid tribute last week to longtime Chicago Civic Federation President Laurence Msall for his work over two decades holding government leaders’ feet to the fire on fiscal management practices. Msall died unexpectedly Feb. 4 at 61 after heart surgery. Msall took over in 2002 as president of

The Securities and Exchange Commission has added a section to its 18-part frequently asked questions page to help registered municipal advisors complete Forms MA, MA-I and MA-NR. “In our efforts to make the municipal advisor registration process as transparent and efficient as possible, the Office of Municipal Securities published new staff guidance to address common

Too much fiscal stimulus ($6.3 trillion) combined with widespread global lockdowns disrupted the fragile economic balance. Too much stimulus hampered a recovery by reducing the percentage of the population willing/needing to work which fueled labor shortage induced inflation. A fiscal solution was needed to solve this core source of supply-shortage-related inflation. Specifically, legislation that focused

President Joe Biden Monday followed through on his promise to veto a Congressional resolution that repealed a new labor rule allowing retirement plan managers to consider climate change and other environmental, social and governance risk factors in their investment decisions. “I just signed this veto because the legislation passed by the Congress would put at

Transcription: Yvette Shields (00:03):Welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Yvette Shields and I lead coverage of the Midwest from Chicago. Joining me for a chat about Illinois’s finances is the state Comptroller, Susana Mendoza. Welcome Susana.  Susana Mendoza (00:17):Thank you, Yvette. Wonderful to be with you.  Yvette Shields (00:20):I appreciated that. And so a

Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to ban the use of a central bank digital currency in Florida and called on other like-minded states to do the same. Saying he supports laws to prevent the federal government from watching and controlling people’s finances, DeSantis called on the Legislature Monday to pass a bill that would ban the

The Virgin Islands Superior Court ruled the territory’s Senate has the power to alter the Water and Power Authority’s board of directors, a decision one municipal bond analyst called a credit positive. The court upheld a Senate bill requiring board members to have greater expertise in energy, technology, economics, and finance; reducing the number of