Bonds

Responding to a looming debt ceiling dust up in Congress, the House Ways and Means Committee voted Thursday to advance House Resolution 187, dubbed the Default Prevention Act, which would prioritize paying U.S. sovereign bond holders first to avoid a credit default.  The bill passed through the Committee on a 21 to 17 vote. The contentious

The largest tax cut in West Virginia’s history has been signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice. “The world is watching West Virginia. The world sees West Virginia in a different light today,” Justice said at the signing ceremony in Charleston on Tuesday. “We’re not the blunt end of a bad joke. We’re the diamond

California has no plans to issue short-term notes to manage cash flow this year despite faltering revenues and disaster declarations that delay the income tax filing deadline for most Californians until October. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on March 2 the state, like the IRS, would extend the tax filing deadline to Oct. 16 for Californians

Kansas legislation targeting environmental, social, and governance criteria in public investments and contracts was held in House and Senate committees Wednesday as lawmakers work on changes after concerns were raised about projected big pension fund losses due to divestment.  Anti-ESG efforts have popped up in several state legislatures with bills seeking to protect certain industries,

Municipals were little changed in secondary trading Wednesday amid an active primary market with two billion-dollar deals priced, although details on one were not immediately available. U.S. Treasury yields were weaker in spots and equities ended mixed. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 59%, the five-year at 61%, the 10-year at 66% and the 30-year

Illinois expects another $575 million of general fund revenues in the current fiscal year as steady income and sales tax collections through February pushed worries over an economic slowdown and the impact of a potential recession further out on the horizon.   The legislature’s non-partisan Commission on Forecasting and Accountability raised its estimate for revenues

After a lackluster 2022, the pipeline for public-private partnership deals may fatten this year as federal infrastructure funds flow and the industry develops novel structures to manage risks from inflation and rising interest rates. That’s the top-line view from law firm Husch Blackwell, which Tuesday released its 2023 P3 trends report. Sectors poised for action

States with general funds and reserves that are currently flush should take heed of what a natural disaster can do to municipal finances, as Washington, New Mexico, and California are all trying to keep their budgets intact after suffering from wildfires that have become more frequent and devasting.  On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Budget Committee

Voters in South Burlington, Vermont, approved a $34 million wastewater bond proposal on Tuesday, the largest of several similar local referendums approved statewide. The South Burlington wastewater bonds will fund overhauling and replacing pumps that serve the Bartlett Bay Wastewater Treatment Facility, which provides service to nearly all of South Burlington’s 20,282 residents. The facility,

State government finances will likely remain in decent shape this year despite signs revenues are weakening, according to rating agencies. Total state tax revenues declined 8% in nominal terms in December and 13.5% when -adjusted for inflation from a year earlier, the Urban Institute reported. In the July to December period, total state tax revenues

Nossaman added Michelle McCarthy as a partner in its Los Angeles office and changed the name of the practice she joined to reflect the new line of services her addition brings. The practice she joins was renamed to Pension, Benefits & Investments Group from the Public Pensions & Investments Group. “Michelle’s deep, nuanced experience in

The U.S. has until mid-August before it runs out of cash, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told a Senate panel Tuesday, and the longer the debate over the debt ceiling persists, the more damage it will do to the economy and the financial markets. “That gives you about six months” to take action on

Keybanc Capital Markets has been added to the growing list of underwriters, which so far has included BNY Mellon, Jefferies, Oppenheimer and TD Securities, among others, charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating its limited offering exemption. The Commission just began enforcing the failure of firms to acquire adequate disclosures from those purchasing

Voters in North Carolina may get to know a little bit more about the debt they will be taking on when they approve a bond referendum. A bill filed in the state Senate would mandate additional information be published with bond measures on the ballot. Senate Bill 99 was introduced in February by primary sponsors

The 2023 board of directors for Women in Public Finance will be chaired by Kayla MacEwen, a partner at Masterson Advisors, the group announced recently. Women in Public Finance, a professional networking group for women working in the public finance sector, aims to increase the chances for women to hold leadership positions by fostering relationships

The ongoing global regime shift toward higher interest rates and less liquidity will drive significant transformations of business investment and the allocation of resources. Given structural inflation pressures, we expect central banks will be less able to intervene than they historically were when exercising monetary policy to extend expansions and shorten recessions. Disruptions and dislocations

Municipals were a little firmer in spots Tuesday, while equities and short-term U.S. Treasuries sold off after Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell suggested interest rates could be hiked higher than expected to combat inflation. The two-year UST yield rose 13 basis points, pushing it above 5% for the first time since June 2007. The

The municipality that is home to the American Dream mall in New Jersey is suing its operator, saying it failed to make agreed upon payments in lieu of taxes. East Rutherford’s lawsuit, filed Friday in New Jersey Superior Court, asserts that despite pulling in “hundreds of millions of dollars” in revenue since opening in 2019,

Two Senate committees are raising the visibility of the housing shortage in the U.S., and weighing legislative action that could pave the way for more housing bonds. The U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on Tuesday to explore tax policy as related to the affordable housing supply, and last week the Senate Committee on

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s proposed fiscal 2024 budget and four-year financial plan tackles the city’s post-Chapter 9 pension funding cliff, offers some property tax relief and moves the city closer to fully shedding state oversight, he told the City Council. The city would draw $73 million from its proposed $1.3 billion general fund to make

The New York City Council opened hearings Monday into the preliminary $102.7 billion fiscal 2024 budget with testimony from some of the city’s top financial officials. The 51-member Council focused on the city’s efforts to fill vacant positions across its agencies, and to address union wage demands and hybrid work rules. It is holding a