Michigan is considering a large, first-time road tolling program that would establish a public tolling agency and new borrowing credit to shore up a long-struggling road funding system. The toll program, which would begin with nearly 600 of mostly interstate miles, would also be somewhat unusual in that it would build on existing roads. Most
Bonds
Volume in the Northeast fell 11.3% last year as issuers sold $102.3 billion of municipal bonds in 1,520 deals compared to $115.4 billion in 2,283 deals in 2021. The region still beat the national numbers, which saw municipal bond issuance fall 19.5% to $389.1 billion. In the Northeast in 2022, tax-exempt issuance dropped 3.4% to
Municipals were mixed Thursday as inflows into muni mutual funds returned, while U.S. Treasuries were weaker, and equities ended down. The three-year muni-UST ratio was at 53%, the five-year at 54%, the 10-year at 60% and the 30-year at 87%, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. ET read. ICE Data Services had the three at
Spurred by a multi-billion-dollar surplus, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed fiscal 2024 budget would pour more spending into education, infrastructure and economic development, offer tax relief, and make new rainy day deposits. The record $79 billion budget Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Budget Director Christopher Harkins presented to lawmakers Wednesdaywould spend most of the state’s $9
Gov. Ned Lamont proposed his biennial budget to Connecticut lawmakers, a spending package that includes income tax rate cuts and spending initiatives to help stem growing labor shortages in critical fields. “Connecticut has enjoyed strong economic and population growth,” Lamont said Wednesday. “Building off this momentum, my budget continues to grow the economy through a
U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. asked a U.S. Senate committee for an increased rum cover tax, more federal aid, and laxer Environmental Protection Agency enforcement. Bryan said the U.S. Congress should extend the rum cover tax rate at $13.25 rather than $10.50 per proof gallon retroactively for 2022 as well as for 2023.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and including Young Kim, R-Calif., Josh Gottheimer, D-N.Y., and Anna G. Eshoo D-Calif., relaunched a SALT caucus on Wednesday, dedicating themselves to lifting the cap on the state and local tax deduction. The SALT caucus wielded some power in the previous Congress, threatening to refuse
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed its proposed Rule G-46 on the duties and standards of conduct of solicitor municipal advisors with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which provides definitions for certain terms, adds disclosures for solicitor MAs to provide to their clients and creates rules prohibiting those solicitors from providing misleading statements. Solicitor
Municipal bond market leaders discussed their expectations for regulatory developments, the economic environment and issuance on a panel at The Bond Buyer’s 2023 National Outlook Conference. “The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is in the midst of a robust rulemaking phase,” said Mark Kim, chief executive officer at the MSRB. “Our regulatory agenda is focused on
The California Pollution Control Financing Authority plans to price $158 million in revenue bonds next week to pay for modifications to the seawater intake system for a San Diego County desalination plant. The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant was built by private operator Poseidon as a partnership that supplies water to the San Diego