Bonds

Louisiana has encountered a problem with its first public-private partnership, with the tolling and full opening of a new Belle Chasse bridge delayed for at least seven months. The bridge was to be fully opened in mid-April, but plans are delayed by subsidence of the newly constructed north and south approaches to the new bridge.

South Dakota voters will determine the fate of Initiated Measure 28, which would eliminate the state sales tax on groceries. Illinois, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Utah, Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia have eliminated or reduced this tax, according to the Urban Institute Tax Policy Center.  “Grocery taxes are regarded as a regressive form of taxes, and cutting

Municipals were slightly firmer as inflows into muni mutual funds topped $1 billion for the second consecutive week. U.S. Treasuries rallied and equities ended mixed. Muni yields were bumped one to three basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields fell seven to 13 basis points, pushing two-, three-, five- and 10-year UST yields

House Republicans are setting up a bitter partisan fight for their return to the Capitol next week over what exactly will be included as part of a continuing resolution that would keep the government open past Sept. 30, when current spending is set to expire. Work on that has already begun. Speaker of the House

Economic activity was flat or declining across most regions in the U.S. in recent weeks, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book survey of regional contacts. Employment levels were generally flat to up slightly, according to the report released Wednesday. While reports of layoffs were rare, some firms noted cutting shifts and hours, leaving

Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia president Patrick HarkerBloomberg News Patrick Harker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, will step down from his post next June, the bank announced Wednesday. A search committee of six board members for the regional Fed bank has been formed to search for Harker’s replacement. The bank has also

Texas general fund revenue growth slowed further in fiscal 2024, inching up just 1.1% to $83.78 billion, the state comptroller reported on Tuesday.  Sales taxes, the biggest state-generated revenue source for the Texas budget, brought in $47.16 billion in the fiscal year that ended Saturday, a 1.2% increase from fiscal 2023. All-funds revenue fell 3.6%

New Hampshire faces questions familiar to many states: whether it’s funding schools enough and whether its method of funding is acceptable.  But the state’s hostility toward creating statewide income or sales taxes and legal precedents add some wrinkles. Challenges to the state’s education funding worked their way through the courts until a Superior Court judge

Vice-President Kamala Harris’s recent comments on housing policy remind us that the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act (AHCIA), first introduced in 2016 by the 114th Congress, has yet to make it to a President’s desk.  Eight years on, it may be worth considering other legislative options to stimulate affordable housing production. The ACHIA would reduce

Hurricane Agnes of 1972 still ranks among the most destructive storms to hit the United States. It also marked a turning point in Joan Stern’s life and career, helping put her on a path that led to The Bond Buyer Muni Hall of Fame. At the time, she was a paralegal in the securities law

Illinois will sell up to $1.1 billion of general obligation refunding bonds and $600 million of taxable and tax-exempt new money GO bonds by Sept. 30.  The refunding bonds will price next week in a negotiated transaction, according to an investor presentation. Those tax-exempt bonds will refund currently callable bonds, with maturities and size to

Municipals were little changed to firmer in spots Tuesday as U.S. Treasury yields fell while equities sold off to start September. “With August now behind us, munis continued the summer rally with [the month] returning 0.79%, pushing year-to-date gains to 1.30%,” said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities. This marked the first

Just past the two-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, states have captured an average of 7% of the Biden administration’s signature climate legislation potential funding opportunities. That’s according to an Aug. 13 report from clean energy think tank RMI, which adds that the small number “makes sense” since use of the tax credits that

Denver Public Schools (DPS), which is seeking voter approval for a record-$975 million of bonds this fall, received one-notch downgrades from Fitch Ratings based on local government rating criteria changes.  The district’s AA-plus underlying general obligation rating was lowered last week to AA and its AA certificate of participation rating was cut to AA-minus, both

Rep. Steven Horsford D – Nev., is expected to fill the important committee seat vacated when Rep. Bill Pascrell D- N.J. died last month at the age of 87 while being treated for a respiratory illness.  “We were all saddened by the loss of Rep. Pascrell who had long championed public finance issues in Congress,”

The state reached a $350,000 settlement agreement with a former employee who accused California Treasurer Fiona Ma of sexual harassment. The accusations came to light in 2021, when Judith Blackwell, the former executive director for the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, filed the lawsuit alleging that the treasurer walked around naked in a shared hotel

High-grade Baltimore County plans to come to market Wednesday with a $180 million general obligation refunding deal, part of which will be used to refund its outstanding Build America Bonds. The $180.24 million deal comprises $76.085 million of metropolitan district bonds and $104.155 million of consolidated public improvement bonds. The metropolitan district bonds will refund

The outlook on Memphis Light, Gas & Water’s AAA water system revenue bonds was lowered to negative from stable by S&P Global Ratings. “The outlook revision reflects our view of the water system’s accelerating near-term capital needs, which could pressure debt service coverage and liquidity before the next multiyear rate plan is adopted, with current

Transcription: Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio for the authoritative record. Michael Scarchilli (00:06): Hi everyone, and welcome to The Bond Buyer Podcast, your essential resource for insights into everything municipal finance. I’m Mike Scarchilli, editor-in-chief of The Bond

The North Texas Tollway Authority is seeking savings through bond refundings and tenders in a $1.126 billion deal that tops this week’s municipal bond sale calendar.  The NTTA scheduled a Thursday pricing for the tax-exempt debt offered in two series – $446.14 million of first tier revenue bonds to fund a tender offer for taxable

Municipals were little changed Friday ahead of the holiday weekend as U.S. Treasuries lost ground while stocks rallied. Triple-A yields closed the week little changed while USTs saw yields rise three to five basis points. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Friday was at 63%, the three-year at 64%, the five-year at 65%, the 10-year at 69%