Bonds

Repubican opponents of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposal to borrow up to $9.9 billion for offsetting COVID-19-related revenue losses was argued before the state’s highest court Wednesday and they said the state’s constitution and past legal precedent should prevent the plan from proceeding. “The framers did not intend to give the state a blank

Texas sales tax revenues rebounded to positive numbers in July after a deep, three-month slump brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and falling demand for oil. At $2.98 billion, the July revenues represented a 4.3% increase compared to the same month last year. The positive numbers reflect federal stimulus and the relaxed Texas opening of

Minnesota’s top rating from S&P Global Ratings is at risk over its COVID-19 budget hole and how the state might close the potential three-year, $7 billion gap. S&P moved the outlook on the state’s AAA rating to negative from stable this week in a report ahead of a $1.2 billion new money and refunding general

A federal judge ruled that Puerto Ricans are eligible for federal benefits they’ve been heretofore denied: Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy (LIS). U.S. District Court Judge for Puerto Rico William Young issued the decision on Monday. In his decision, Young said that the federal

RBC Capital Markets had a recent shake-up with the departure of James Tricolli as co-head of municipals. Bob Spangler is now head of municipals at RBC and has plans to continue to grow its business in the muni space. Robert SpanglerRick Schwab e:rick@rickschwab.ne Tricolli did not respond to a request for comment on why he

Lawyers for a bond trustee and a Missouri county will square off Wednesday before an appellate court over the legal enforceability of the county’s pledge to cover shortfalls on a $32 million industrial development bond issue. Platte County leaders decided in 2018 not to cover a $765,000 shortfall in tax revenues generated in the Zona

Municipals were steady on Monday, with yields unchanged on the AAA curves as the market moved into the dog days of August. “July proved to be one for the record books, which apparently will need new pages added if the current momentum continues,” according to FHN Financial Senior Vice President Kim Olsan. “Several major spot

The Lexington-Fayette, Ky., Urban County Government Public Facilities Corp. will sell by competitive bid $33.19 million of taxable refunding bonds on Tuesday, in its first-ever “scoop and toss” deal. The bonds will restructure up to three years of payments on bonds issued by the Kentucky Bond Development Corp. in 2018 to finance a comprehensive renovation

Jacksonville, its city-owned JEA utility and Georgia-based MEAG Power Thursday announced a settlement of all the legal issues between them. Since September 2018, JEA has been in court attempting to shed the 20-year, take-or-pay power purchase agreement that requires it to pay debt service on bonds and U.S. Department of Energy-backed loan guarantees issued to

Rig hands move equipment at a hydraulic fracturing site atop the Marcellus Shale rock formation in Washington Township, Pennsylvania.Bloomberg News A new tax credit, a grand jury report, national election-year politics and regional bickering have revived debate over natural gas drilling, long a complex Pennsylvania political football. “It’s been a multi-faceted endeavor that’s affected a

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has designated its chief compliance officer as interim chief regulatory officer, almost a year after the resignation of its prior regulatory chief. The decision was made during a two-day quarterly MSRB board meeting this week to name Gail Marshall as interim chief regulatory officer. That position was previously held by

Once again, Friday’s economic data offered a mixed picture, with consumer sentiment down, spending up and incomes lower, while the Chicago Business Barometer was at its highest since May 2019. The University of Michigan’s final consumer sentiment index for July slipped to 72.5 from the preliminary reading of 73.2 and June’s final reading of 78.1.

July saw a total of $42.61 billion in municipal bonds sold, a staggering 41.3% higher than July 2019’s total, as issuers continue to flood the market with deals, specifically taxable muni transactions. Taxable bond volume increased 518.3% month-over-month to $16.13 billion from $2.61 billion in July of 2019. Year-to-date, taxable volume sits at $68.98 billion.

Municipal bond buyers will see a varied slate of new deals heading their way, with taxable deals leading the slate. The largest issue on the calendar is a $900 million taxable general obligation bond deal from the state of Hawaii. Municipals continued to strengthen, with yields steady to down as much as two basis points

Fitch Ratings Friday revised the outlook to negative on the United States’ sovereign rating. The rating agency affirmed its AAA rating on the United States’ long-term foreign-currency and local-currency issuer default ratings while dropping the outlook from stable. Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on the United States’ AAA rating to negative from stable. Fitch said

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act authored by Rep. Suzane DelBene, D-Wash., has 223 cosponsors in the House including 76 Republicans. Brian Tumulty, The Bond Buyer A bipartisan group of 103 House members wants congressional leaders to prioritize tax law changes to expand the availability of affordable housing in the next round of emergency COVID-19

A municipal bonding bill approved by New Jersey lawmakers Thursday that would enable local governments to borrow to offset some revenue losses driven by the COVID-19 pandemic may not get the blessing of Gov. Phil Murphy. The Democrat-controlled state Senate approved the legislation Thursday in a party-line 25-15 vote, but Murphy has not indicated whether

The California Supreme Court failed to take up the California Rule in its most recent decision in a pension case, instead issuing a narrow ruling on the case’s merits. The court did affirm the state’s right to eliminate pension spiking, a reform outlined in the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act of 2013, a law championed

Coronavirus stimulus may reduce the likelihood of an infrastructure bill passing in the next few months. That’s what some experts predicted during a Brookings Institution webinar on Thursday. Tracey Ross, director of federal policy and narrative at PolicyLink is confident that a federal infrastructure stimulus will pass by next summer, though others think it may

The public agency that runs Chicago’s convention center expects to hit the market in September with an up to $200 million deal aimed at softening the COVID-19 pandemic’s fiscal blows to its taxes and operations. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority is funded with revenues from hosting conventions and events that aren’t happening, and taxing

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell said the economy seems to be slowing anew as many states see coronavirus cases rising, and the Fed will do what it needs to do and doesn’t expect to raise rates anytime soon. The post-meeting statement from the Federal Open Market Committee said the path of the economy will

A hospital district serving a county that is one of California’s hardest-hit by COVID-19 was downgraded to junk. Fitch Ratings downgraded Pioneers Memorial Healthcare District’s general obligation bonds, revenue bonds and issuer default ratings to BB from BBB-minus, and maintained its rating watch negative. The district, already struggling before the coronavirus pandemic, faces operating challenges

Under budget pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic, Colorado lawmakers withheld a $225 million contribution to the state’s pension plan for the current fiscal year, a decision that will have negative implications for the state’s Aa1 credit rating, according to Moody’s Investors Service. “The retreat from its plan to bolster poorly funded teacher and state employee

Municipal yields were steady to stronger on the long end Tuesday as Colorado sold notes and Seattle offered bonds, but those long-dated, smaller-coupon bonds are enticing investors. A Dallas, Texas, ISD bond, 4s of 2049, traded in large blocks at 1.72%, just about 30 basis points lower than AAA benchmark scales. A four-handle at 1.72%.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (left) and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin leave the offices of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after beginning bipartisan negotiations on another round of federal emergency aid to address the COVID-19 pandemic.Bloomberg News State and local government groups say the $1 trillion emergency coronavirus relief package announced by Senate

With its professional sports stadiums and amusement parks in limbo due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arlington, Texas, plans to take advantage of its top credit rating and low interest rates with $192 million of pension obligation bonds. Scheduled for a negotiated sale Aug. 27, the bonds will be used to fully fund the city’s outstanding

Maine’s Susan Collins became the second Republican senator to announce opposition to President Donald Trump’s nomination of economist Judy Shelton to the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. “Ms. Shelton has openly called for the Federal Reserve to be less independent of the political branches, and has even questioned the need for a central bank,” Collins

“In my 20- plus years in public finance, this is the strongest demand I’ve seen for municipal bonds,” said Keith Richard, managing director at Siebert Williams Shank & Co. Despite pandemic and upheaval in the Texas economy, Siebert Williams Shank & Co. is anticipating a record year in the state for the minority and women-owned

After 15 straight weeks of slowly descending while remaining historically elevated, initial jobless claims grew in the week ended July 18, leading some analysts to suggest the U.S. economic recovery appears to be “stalling.” Claims edged higher to a seasonally adjusted 1.416 million from the previous week’s upwardly revised level of 1.307 million, originally reported

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday said the Republican legislative response to COVID “is ununified, unserious, unsatisfactory.” Bloomberg News Senate Republicans are considering a negotiating strategy that will not provide additional aid to state and local governments in the next package of coronavirus emergency relief they will propose to House Democrats. Senate Republican