Bonds

Reinvestment demand will remain strong in July, as large redemptions will support technicals and lead to positive returns. June saw $42.4 billion of redemptions, the highest redemption figure since August 2023, helped the muni market as new-issue buying last month was “pretty strong,” said Pat Luby, head of municipal strategy at CreditSights. Net supply for

When the west abutment on Minnesota’s Rapidan Dam partially failed last week, officials initially feared a total collapse.  The dam did not collapse, but storms caused water to overflow it, debris to clog parts of it and the flood flows to ultimately generate so much erosion that waters ultimately went around the dam. For days,

The Richmond, California-based West Contra Costa Unified School District, which failed to approve an accountability plan necessary to pass a budget by the end of the fiscal year, got a reprieve Monday as Contra Costa County prepared to take over budget activities. If the school district fails to approve a budget by the July 1

Municipals were steady Tuesday as U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities ended higher. The muni market will see few deals this week as issuers usually “take a breather” on coming to market during holiday-shortened weeks, noted senior vice president and director of strategic planning and fixed income research at SWBC Chris Brigati. Along with the

Miami-Dade County, Florida, was upgraded to AA-plus from AA by Fitch Ratings, which attributed the change to its new local government ratings criteria. The outlook is stable. Fitch cited the county’s “expected resilience to cyclical and noncyclical economic stressors due to its position as the primary anchor of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach [metropolitan statistical area],

Another $289 million in Airport Infrastructure Grants is flowing to 129 airports across 40 states as air travel in the US breaks new records. “This latest round of funding will support key improvements to terminals, runways, and baggage systems and build on the work this administration is doing to modernize our aviation infrastructure,” said Transportation Secretary

Fitch Ratings gave Children’s Health System of Texas a negative outlook on its AA rating, citing financial pressure from a plan to build a partly bond-financed $5 billion pediatric health campus in Dallas. Fitch noted the project will be funded by Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center and will be “supported by philanthropy and

Davis Polk has hired infrastructure finance lawyer Elena Millerman to join the firm in New York as a co-leader as it builds out its infrastructure practice. Millerman joins as partner and co-head of the infrastructure finance group. She was previously at White & Case LLP, where most recently she served as the global head of

States continue to chip away at income taxes by lowering rates or adopting tax credits, with Arkansas and Kansas enacting reductions last month that will reduce collections by hundreds of millions of dollars in fiscal 2025. But the overall trend of large tax cuts, which reached a peak in 2022, has slowed considerably, according to

Michigan’s $82.5 billion fiscal 2025 budget — which Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign — includes investments in roads and bridges financed by the $700 million final tranche of Rebuilding Michigan Plan bonds, which will be issued later this year. According to a press release from the governor’s office, projects funded by the bonds

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. With the need for more high-speed rail lines in the United States, all eyes have been on the privately owned Brightline rail system, with one route already operating in Florida and the development of the Western route recently taking shape with a

Municipals were slightly weaker Monday but outperformed U.S. Treasuries, which saw larger losses 10 years and out, while equities ended up. Triple-A yields rose one to five basis points, depending on the curve, while UST yields rose up to 14. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 65%, the three-year at 65%, the five-year at

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board’s proposed Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority plan of adjustment can be approved in its current form despite a recent appeals court ruling undermining the assumptions that underlies it, said board Executive Director Robert Mujica Jr. “We believe that the current plan that we have is confirmable as it is and

Municipal market regulators will be holding a compliance conference in Denver this fall in an aim to bring together municipal advisors, broker-dealers and other market participants to discuss the most pressing concerns in compliance, examinations, enforcement, and post-trade reporting, among many others. The Compliance Outreach Program, co-hosted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Municipal

The Biden administration Friday asked Congress to greenlight an additional $4 billion in emergency funds that would cover, among other things, a rebuild of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland and wildfires in Maui last August. The request comes on top of the administration’s $56 billion request last October in supplemental funding for

In the fight against climate change, innovative financial models will be critical to success.  The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) envisions a new ecosystem of green lenders across the country that, if communicated properly, could look to public finance markets for guidance.  As one infrastructure portfolio manager noted when GGRF came

Pausing congestion pricing may be even more destructive than the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority predicted, according to a presentation at its board meeting last week.  The agency cannot afford to cover all basic maintenance, and must shelve any new upgrades or expansions until it finds $16.5 billion in revenue, the presentation said. The system

Municipals closed the month and the first half of 2024 on a quiet note ahead of the Fourth of July holiday-shortened week and a new-issue slate coming in at a measly $240 million — though there was much to watch on the sidelines. Munis outperformed U.S. Treasuries Friday by holding steady as govies saw some

Moody’s Ratings downgraded two private universities in California this week as higher education continues to grapple with declining enrollment and slower revenues nationally. Moody’s cut the University of La Verne’s rating to Baa1 from A Thursday, affecting $101 million in revenue bonds issued for the school in eastern Los Angeles County. It downgraded the University

The Supreme Court decision in SEC v. Jarkesy, ruling that the Securities and Exchange Commission can’t use administrative court proceedings in cases where it seeks civil penalties, may close down one lane the SEC uses to enforce the market, but it won’t altogether change how the Public Finance Abuse Unit operates. The municipal securities market

Issuance rose in June as improved market momentum, growth of Build America Bond refundings and mega deals pushed bond volume higher year-over-year for the sixth consecutive month. June’s volume came in at $44.769 billion in 798 issues, up 12.8% from $39.705 billion in 867 issues in 2023. June’s total is above the 10-year average of