Bonds

Oregon filed amended offering documents Thursday for a recent lottery bond deal after the state Court of Appeals reversed a $1 billion verdict against the state in a dispute over forest management. The Department of Administrative Services had priced $217.7 million in lottery revenue bonds in two tranches of taxable and tax-exempt debt two weeks

Municipal issuance dropped 7.5% year-over-year in April, again owing to a drop in taxable and refunding volumes in the face of continued market volatility and rising interest rates. The $34 billion figure is slightly up from the 10-year average of $33.612 billion. Total April volume was $34.329 billion in 729 deals versus $37.105 billion in

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to issue a request for comment on a retrospective review of its Rule G-14 in hopes of cutting down the standard 15 minute time of trade reporting window that has been in place since 2005. That was decided at the MSRB’s quarterly board meeting which concluded Thursday. The MSRB

S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on the Reedy Creek Improvement District to developing from stable due to the uncertainty as to what will happen next in the economic/political saga playing out in Florida. “The outlook revision to developing reflects our view that there is at least a one-in-three chance that the credit profile securing

Municipals were mixed Friday, outperforming larger losses in U.S. Treasury ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting next week where the Fed is expected to implement another rate hike. Equities sold off led by tech stocks. Triple-A benchmarks were cut up to two basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose seven

S&P Global Ratings placed the New Orleans’ A-plus long-term and underlying ratings on general obligation and limited property tax debt on CreditWatch with negative implications due to a lack of timely information. “The CreditWatch action reflects that we will likely withdraw these ratings if we do not receive the city’s fiscal 2020 audited financial statements

Challenges to the Puerto Rico Plan of Adjustment heard by the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Thursday will not impact the terms for bondholders, but may affect the government’s ability to pay debt service. Puerto Rico credit unions argued Puerto Rico’s central government engaged in fraud by pressuring them to buy nearly $1

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown said Wednesday that the Senate would wait to confirm President Biden’s Federal Reserve picks until the return of Democrats recovering from the coronavirus. Brown, an Ohio Democrat, blocked votes this week on a second term for Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve and the nomination of Philip

Oklahoma is poised to follow in the footsteps of Texas in preventing banks from participating in municipal bond deals if they “discriminate” against the firearm industry or “boycott” fossil fuel energy companies with two bills nearing final legislative approval this week. On the gun front, House Bill 3144, which passed the state Senate in a

Chicago is counting on future casino tax revenue to avoid reverting to bad fiscal practices or raising property taxes as it seeks to structurally balance its books, the city’s chief financial officer warned City Council members at a hearing this week.   Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration last month narrowed a list of five casino development

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board rejected several local government initiatives, including the governor’s proposed fiscal 2023 budget. The board sent a letter on Friday to Gov. Pedro Pierluisi rejecting the budget he submitted on March 16, and two separate letters to Juan Zaragoza Gómez, Senate Finance Committee president, rejecting three Senate bills relating to firefighters

The Government Employees Retirement System of the Virgin Islands is preparing a lawsuit against the financially struggling Water and Power Authority for about $7.7 million in past due money. At issue are past due employees’ and employer’s contributions and employees’ loans as well interest on these sums. WAPA has failed to forward the employee and

Municipals were steady to firmer in spots Monday but underperformed U.S. Treasuries that saw yields fall further while equities ended in the black led by tech stocks. Triple-A yield curves saw one to two basis point bumps while UST ended the session four to nine better after falling double-digits earlier in the day. Muni-UST ratios

Columbus heads into the market this week with a $423 million deal riding tailwinds from a rebounding revenue picture and the resolution of a lawsuit tied to 2020 remote work income tax collections. The triple-A-rated city will take indications of interest on $98 million of taxable bonds in two series on Monday with pricing to

Utah’s top elected officials demanded on Thursday that S&P Global Ratings cease applying environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors to the state through the use of what they called a politicized rating system based on indeterminate factors.  A letter to S&P signed by Gov. Spencer Cox, Treasurer Marlo Oaks, other state constitutional officeholders, legislative leaders,

There is value and incentive for states, localities and other governmental entities to create a public bank to localize their financial incentives for investment in their communities and provide low-cost financing for those communities. What is a public bank? It’s owned and controlled by a state, municipality or other governmental entity. There is one public

Nebraska is likely to use a public private partnership to finance completion of its expressway system now that the Legislature has passed a law authorizing transportation P3s. “The expressway system is the reason we introduced this bill,” said Amanda Callaway, legislative aide to state Sen. Lynne Walz, who sponsored LB 1016. The bill allows the

Proceeds from sales of about $1.3 billion in bonds would benefit cities and towns across Massachusetts under legislation Gov. Charlie Baker filed on Thursday. The bill, called the Future Opportunities for Resiliency, Workforce, and Revitalized Downtowns, or FORWARD, would authorize the use of $2.3 billion in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and

Municipals were steady to weaker in spots Friday ahead of a large new-issue calendar, while U.S. Treasuries were mixed and equities sold off upward of 2.5%. Investors will be greeted Monday with a big uptick in supply, with the new-issue calendar reaching $9.251 billion with $6.572 billion of negotiated deals and $2.679 billion of competitive

St. Louis County Council members signed off on $105 million of borrowing to cover the county’s share of a convention center expansion despite growing concerns about the project’s cost. The city issued $105 million in late 2020 to cover its share of the public tab but the county’s financing had long been in a holding

The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of two lower courts that had declared Puerto Ricans eligible for federal Supplemental Security Income benefits. The Supreme Court released its 8-1 decision in the United States v. Vaello Madero case on Thursday. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the a dissent. The SSI program provides financial assistance to disabled

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board intends to discuss the preliminary themes in the comments it received as part of its request for information on environmental social and governance factors, in its first meeting since the comment period closed in March. The board will discuss that along with the efforts to update trade reporting rules in

The Puerto Rico House of Representatives voted to end the commonwealth’s contract with LUMA Energy — under which it handles the electrical transmission and distribution grid — in the aftermath of a several-day long blackout. The House voted 29-16 with one abstention for the measure Tuesday. Members of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party provided the

Moody’s Investors Service revised the outlook for Phoenix’s Aa1 general obligation rating on Tuesday to stable from negative, citing “the city’s meaningful increases in pension contributions that will likely decrease liabilities over the long-term.” The rating agency also affirmed its Aa2 rating and stable outlook on the city’s senior and subordinate lien excise tax bonds.

Municipals sold off Tuesday, with triple-A benchmarks seeing cuts up to 11 basis points and the 30-year topping 3% on some scales. U.S. Treasuries were weaker, experiencing double-digit cuts on the short end, and equities rallied. Triple-A muni yields rose nine to 11 basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose 10 to

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti emphasized climate change, infrastructure and the homelessness crisis in his final State of the City speech as he foreshadowed the 2022-23 budget he releases this week. His choice of venue for his speech Thursday, the nearly complete Sixth Street Viaduct replacement project, underscored the infrastructure theme. Garcetti said he plans

Jerome Powell wants to put the Federal Reserve at “the forefront of technological changes” in the financial sector. The central bank is beefing up its tech acumen to get there. Calling it imperative to “evolve with the rest of the financial system,” the Fed chair said during an event hosted by the Bank for International

Merger and acquisition activity among not-for-profit and for-profit hospitals dropped off in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, according to Kaufman Hall. The 12 announced transactions in the first quarter marked the lowest since 2016 when Kaufman Hall began tracking the activity, according to the Quarterly Mergers and Acquisitions Report the

While lawmakers in California and other states are still debating the merits of cutting gas taxes amid soaring prices spurred by Russia’s war on Ukraine several East Coast states have already implemented gas tax holidays prompting ratings analysts to weigh in. Moody’s Investors Service analysts said in a report Wednesday that the tax “holidays” are

New York State’s $220 billion fiscal 2023 budget focuses on environmental, social and governance issues while remaining in balance. Gov. Kathy Hochul said the budget, approved by the Legislature on April 8, balances social goals with fiscal responsibility. The budget raises the state’s reserves to a record high 15% of state operating funds spending by