Bonds

The Office of Management and Budget would be required to disclose any infrastructure projects that are more than $1 billion over budget or more than five years behind schedule under a bill that has passed a Senate committee. A companion bill in the House has been introduced in two committees. The Senate Committee on Homeland

Blaylock Van, a Black-owned banking firm, continues to expand its muni efforts by hiring the tax-exempt muni sales and trading team from Seaport Global, a privately held capital markets firm. The three executives, Kudzai Jones, Jason Carpenter and PJ Richardson, set to start in January, bring Blaylock Van’s muni team up to 20 employees, said

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s new rate card model is coming under fire by broker-dealer and municipal advisor groups for what those groups see as a lack of transparency, vague budget commitments and a warped process that sets spending plans before revenue for those targets has been met. The MSRB’s rate card model is new

Alberto G. Musalem will take over as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on April 2, the bank announced Thursday. Musalem, an economist, and former executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “served as CEO and co-chief investment officer of Evince Asset Management LP (2018-’22), a quantitative investment

The fiscal struggles of three public school districts in northwest Washington state have landed them under enhanced state oversight. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal placed three school districts in “binding conditions” as the 2023-2024 school year began: Marysville School District 25, Mount Baker School District and La Connor School District, all in northwest

Just days after taking office, Houston Mayor John Whitmire withdrew the city’s appeal of a recent court ruling involving an impasse over firefighter pay that is being closely watched by at least one bond rating agency. The appeal of a Harris County District Court judge’s December ruling ordering Houston to negotiate back pay and benefits

Municipals were little changed Wednesday, while U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly and equities ended the session down after the Federal Open Market Committee’s December meeting minutes offered little insights into future rate cuts. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Wednesday was at 56%, the three-year at 58%, the five-year at 58%, the 10-year at 58% and the

North Las Vegas, Nevada, this week had its long-term issuer default rating upgraded to A-minus from BBB-plus by Fitch Ratings as the city’s ratings continue an upward climb after falling to junk a decade ago. The city of 280,543 had been on the fiscal comeback trail since it fought off insolvency in 2014, even seeing

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board issued a revised proposed Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority plan of adjustment that incorporates a recent deal with unsecured creditors, which sets aside $254 million more to pay them than the prior plan did. The revised plan of adjustment, if approved, would pay off unsecured creditor claims using a combination

As D.C. and Virginia vie to be the location for professional hockey and basketball teams, the D.C. Council Chairman on Tuesday proposed a new fund that would siphon extra money not used for ongoing debt service into maintenance requests for National’s Park, home of the city’s professional baseball team. The Ballpark Budget and Maintenance Amendment

Arizona’s universal school voucher program would face greater oversight and restrictions under proposed legislation unveiled by Gov. Katie Hobbs Tuesday.  Citing a projection the empowerment scholarship accounts (ESA) will cost the state nearly $1 billion this fiscal year, the Democratic governor called for increased accountability and transparency.  ”Arizonans deserve to know their money is being

Nearly half of U.S. states have sued to block a Biden administration rule requiring them to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gases, arguing the administration lacks authority to impose the rule and that it would force them to “contort transportation investment decisions” to reduce emissions. Attorneys general from 21 states filed the lawsuit Dec. 21. Separately, Texas

Since the Florida Legislature approved reforms to the state’s insurance industry this year, the state Office of Insurance Regulation has given approval for six additional property and casualty insurers to enter the market, Commissioner Michael Yaworsky said Friday. The OIR has responsibility for regulation, compliance and enforcement of statutes related to the business of insurance

The final size of the Internal Revenue Service’s $80 billion budget boost remains in question but as the agency backfills missing personnel, issuers can expect the coming year to include a heavy dose of IRS audit activity. “My understanding is that there are a lot of agents in training,” said Rich Moore, a tax partner

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said a soft landing for the U.S. economy is looking more likely but hardly certain, reiterating the continued possibility of further tightening. “A soft landing is increasingly conceivable but in no way inevitable,” Barkin, who will vote on policy decisions this year, said in the text of

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. For those we lost in 2023.AdobeStock They were all part of the municipal bond business. They were underwriters, dealers, lawyers, analysts, insurers, reporters and government officials, but they were friends and colleagues first and foremost. These are the people in the public

Municipals were lightly traded and little changed in the first session of 2024 while U.S. Treasuries were weaker and equities lost ground as markets pulled back to reassess expectations after the end-of-year’s large rally. Triple-A yields were softer in spots while USTs saw yields rise six to 10 basis points with the larger losses on

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has opened its search for three new board members: two public representatives and one representative from the regulated side, to serve for the 2025 fiscal year.  Selected nominees will be elected to four-year terms beginning Oct. 1, and will join the full fifteen-member Board which represents a cross section of

On Jan. 1, New Jersey, New York and Maryland joined a handful of states with a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour. The increase to $15.13 an hour in New Jersey is expected to affect about 350,000 of the state’s 1.9 million hourly workers. Many non-hourly employees will also see an indirect benefit from the statewide

When the full Indianapolis City-County Council on Dec. 4 approved a plan to finance Eleven Park, a $1.5 billion mixed-use development anchored by a minor-league soccer stadium, the vote was nearly unanimous.  The plan, authorized by Indiana’s General Assembly, carves out a new tax area downtown: the Additional Professional Sports Development Area. It will enable

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is gearing up to change how broker-dealers operate in 2024, as the controversial move to a one-minute trade reporting window will come into effect, a change to a T+1 settlement cycle, in addition to a new proposal aimed at soliciting market feedback on pre-trade data. The board’s last few years