Bonds

They’re calling next year the Super Bowl of federal tax policy, and everything, including the municipal market’s prized tax exemption, will be in the game. Congress is gearing up for a potentially major tax overhaul post-election as provisions in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the largest tax overhaul since 1986, are set to

Hospitals in California may get the extra time some say they need to meet stringent earthquake-safety requirements. As it stands now, hospitals will be forced to close if they haven’t completed the required work by a 2030 deadline under a state law originally crafted following the 1994 Northridge earthquake. “Almost two-thirds of the hospitals in

Houghton University, a liberal arts school in Western New York established in 1883, saw its rating downgraded into junk status by S&P Global Ratings. The rating agency cut the school’s tax-exempt bonds one notch to BB-plus from BBB-minus, citing its track record of deficits plus a large operating shortfall expected in fiscal 2024.  “We believe

The secondary market showed lighter trading and steady yields Thursday as the last deals of size priced and muni mutual funds saw small inflows. U.S. Treasuries were slightly weaker and equities were mixed near the close. The day’s moves showed muni-to-UST ratios holding mostly steady. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Thursday was at 64%, the three-year

The Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy Act, which is expected to spur nuclear power production passed in the U.S. Senate and is heading towards President Biden’s desk for signing.  “This bipartisan piece of legislation will encourage more innovation and investment in nuclear technologies right here on our shores,” said Sen. Shelley

Utah lawmakers on Wednesday amended a law aimed at keeping the state’s largest coal-fired power plant in operation to ease concerns raised by the Intermountain Power Agency (IPA).   House Bill 3004, which passed both chambers during a special session, makes changes to legislation signed into law by Gov. Spencer Cox in March that requires IPA

Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board is seeking to reopen a confirmation hearing on a debt-restructuring plan for the island’s power utility after an appeals court last week ruled that bondholders have a claim to the agency’s future net revenue. The oversight board, which manages the bankruptcy of Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority, called PREPA, wants

Under Republican leadership, Louisiana has joined the red state battle against environmental, social and governance policies with the country’s latest state-level law that bans doing business with corporations, including bond underwriters, deemed to be unfriendly to the gun industry. Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican who took office in January, has long advocated against ESG issues

Municipals were steady in secondary trading Tuesday as a heavy new-issue calendar took focus in the primary, led by an upsized $2.55 billion deal for the John F. Kennedy International Airport New Terminal One Project that saw yields bumped upon repricing. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities were up near the close. The two-year muni-to-Treasury

Federal regulations are putting the brakes on U.S. Department of Transportation funding designed to boost transit-oriented development projects near public transit.  “We need to make it easier to build in any way we can,” said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. “Providing low interest capital through TIFIA and RRIF is one means, but for it to work

The start of a trial to determine whether bonds could be issued to finance a multi-billion-dollar light-rail project in Austin was halted Monday after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office filed an emergency motion with a state appeals court. A Travis County District Court judge planned to commence the trial before ruling on the attorney

Brightline train’s proposed extension to Tampa won a vote of confidence Friday from a coalition of planning and transportation organizations, two months after the sale of $925 million of high-yield municipal bonds to finance the planned extension. The Suncoast Transportation Planning Alliance and Central Florida Metropolitan Planning Organization Alliance, which together represent 10 metropolitan planning

Columbus, Ohio, recently embarked on a technological modernization push that employs artificial intelligence in its payroll, revenue and accounting and operations systems. Columbus Auditor Megan Kilgore said her office now uses AI for everything from reconciling differences between sets of data to visualizing city finances for the mayor or City Council members with almost real-time

The credit quality of issuers that do not disclose climate-related vulnerabilities, or their plans to address such risks, should be examined more closely by investors and considered riskier long-term investments than their public ratings may imply. Given the “constant, widespread reporting of climate change perils, and the current abundance of free, public data,” bondholders can

The Arizona Legislature wrapped up its session Saturday, passing legislation to mitigate the impact of a $329 million property tax refund to be paid by Maricopa County governments and school districts, as well as a fiscal 2025 budget that tackles a two-year deficit. The refunds resulted from a stipulated judgment issued in February for class-action

Municipals were steady to slightly weaker in spots as U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities ended up. Despite some slight weakness Monday, munis continued “their impressive start to June,” with yields falling 10 to 13 basis points last week, Birch Creek strategists said. Munis have rallied roughly 24 to 29 basis points month-to-date, a “complete

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Monday the addition of the Tradeweb AAA Municipal Curve to its Electronic Municipal Market Access website, the latest step in the board’s years-long effort to centralize more such data on EMMA. MSRB’s John Bagley hailed the new addition to EMMA. The curve is now another of several available on

Los Angeles is the latest issuer to come to market riding a Fitch Ratings upgrade from its revised local government criteria as the city prepares to sell social bonds competitively to support its efforts to eradicate homelessness. Fitch upgraded the city’s issuer default rating to AA-plus from AA and assigned a AAA rating to the

The timing and number of rate cuts the Federal Reserve makes this year will be determined by incoming data, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Patrick Harker said Monday. “My commitment is to remain data dependent because this is how we get through the uncertainty and make sure inflation returns to target, sustainably,” Harker said.Bloomberg

Former Government Finance Officers Association President Laura Allen is leaving office during a time of immense transition, as the organization looks to find new ways to engage with their 24,000 members across the United States and Canada. Allen has passed the baton off to Tanya Garost, who assumed the role June 11 and she will

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari said the central bank is in a good position to take its time and watch incoming data before starting to cut interest rates. “We need to see more evidence to convince us that inflation is well on our way back down to 2%,” Kashkari said Sunday on