Bonds

The public agency that manages St. Louis public transit hits the market as soon as Tuesday with a refunding to ease near-term COVID-19-induced revenue strains. The Missouri-Illinois Metropolitan Bi-State Development Agency is selling $171 million of combined lien mass transit sales tax appropriation refunding bonds including $13 million of tax-exempts and $158 million of taxables.

When market participants return to work after the long holiday weekend, they will see a chunky slate of supply waiting for them as issuers take advantage of low rates and a stable marketplace. Offerings from issuers in California, Oregon and Washington state top the calendar. IHS Ipreo estimates weekly volume at $7.38 billion, consisting of

A recent audit by a California agency raised questions about a San Diego-area school district’s decision to choose a rating agency with criteria likely to result in a higher rating for a general obligation bond sale. The full Fiscal Crisis Management Team audit released June 22 reported “significant evidence” of malfeasance by current and former

Preston Hollow Capital LLC is aiming to parlay one court’s conclusions that Nuveen Investments used “threats and lies” to undercut its business into a defamation ruling in another court. PHC’s original case accusing Nuveen of defamation, antitrust and unlawful business interference ended with an April opinion from the Delaware Chancery Court finding that Nuveen had

Reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which wiped $9 billion of wealth from New York City’s coffers, the mayor and the city council agreed on a budget that few really like or think will solve all the city’s long-term needs. In the early morning hours of July 1, the City Council passed the

Michigan will cut local government and education funding, lay off employees and dip into reserves to plug a $2.2 billion COVID-19-driven hole in the current budget, under a plan announced by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders. The state will draw $350 million from its $1.2 billion reserve. Another $490 million will be reimbursed, with

Two Federal Reserve presidents said the central bank is committed to fighting racism as an economic issue, following increased disparity in U.S. labor market fortunes this year amid the coronavirus-induced recession. “I think you have seen a pretty significant change in terms of the voice of the Fed in the last six to eight months,”

After wrapping up a much-delayed general obligation refunding that may have offered the first notable forward delivery since the COVID-19-driven market disruption in March, Wisconsin is teeing up a long-stalled taxable transportation revenue bond advance refunding. The forward delivery’s success helps support market participants’ perceptions that the market has returned to a more “normal” state,

This week’s slate of over $7.2 billion is hefty for a holiday-shortened week and as the market drives slowly into quarter end, tax-exempts will ride in the back seat for a change. It will be taxables at the wheel this week, according to Kim Olsan, senior vice president at FHN Financial. “In a rare circumstance,

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell stressed the importance of keeping the coronavirus contagion contained as the U.S. economy bounces back from its deepest contraction in decades. ”We have entered an important new phase and have done so sooner than expected,” Powell said in remarks prepared for testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday

Dallas-Fort Worth International expects a bond market boost as it lowers costs to cope with the worst economic downturn in its 46-year history. A pair of tax-exempt refunding deals adding up to $875 million is expected to lower the airport’s interest expenses. A 2018 view of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. The airport has $875 million

The Massachusetts School Building Authority has scheduled the state’s first municipal social bond issuance, a nearly $1.5 billion negotiated sale in two tranches. The authority will hold retail and institutional offerings Monday and Tuesday, respectively, for $350 million of Series A tax-exempt new-money bonds, and $1.095 billion of Series B taxable refunding bonds. “I am

David Vaudt is ending his seven-year term as chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board on June 30. David Vaudt’s last day as chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is Tuesday. The 66-year-old former Iowa state auditor, who is completing a seven-year term, has been commuting from Iowa to GASB’s headquarters in Connecticut since

New Jersey Transit’s newly released long-range capital plan lacks funding sources for nearly $6 billion in planned projects and has sparked calls for the state to shift its transportation priorities. The nation’s largest statewide public transportation system unveiled a $16.985 billion five-year capital program that identified $11.2 billion of available resources from state and federal

We are rating any school district that is a standalone entity that can issue its own debt,” said Rachel Cortez, associate managing director at Moody’s Investors Service. Up to 600 school districts could face rating changes from Moody’s Investors Service under a new methodology the service is considering. Municipal advisers who work with school districts,

While state and local governments can use some stimulus from the federal government, an infrastructure plan may be easiest to pass because Democrats and Republicans support it, one economist said. “This would be an ideal time to put money back into the infrastructure, which becomes very productive for the country in the longest of runs,”

It won’t feel like a short holiday week, as issuers expect to sell more than $7 billion of notes and bonds as the quarter and first half come to an end. IHS Ipreo estimates the June 29th week’s calendar at $7.2 billion, consisting of $6.8 billion of negotiated deals and $450 million of competitive sales.

Still working to close a COVID-19 pandemic driven fiscal 2021 budget hole, Illinois’ largest county is projecting a $410 million gap heading into the next budget with tax hikes, job cuts, furloughs, reserve use and pension contributions all on the table to fill it. Cook County’s fiscal 2021 budget projection released Friday warns of a

The Puerto Rico Oversight Board approved a fiscal plan expected to increase property tax revenues to the island’s municipal governments by 26%. The governments have been struggling financially. The move Friday afternoon is an attempt by the board to free localities from depending on central government subsidies. Puerto Rico Executive Director Natalie Jaresko said improving

The volatility caused by the coronavirus pandemic makes predicting the economy, and hence setting policy, tougher than normal, according to Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George. “Determining the correct path for policy is likely to be even more difficult than usual given what I expect to be the continued volatility of the

Not-for-profit hospital margins began to recover in May from COVID-19 induced fiscal wounds as balance sheets benefitted from federal relief and an infusion of revenue when elective procedures and surgeries resumed. “Hospitals and health systems across the country began to see signs of financial improvement in May following two brutal months of poor margin, volume,

Municipal prices were little changed on the day, with action focusing on new-issue supply as the big Massachusetts deal became even bigger. The issue was upsized from the original amount of $670.51 million to nearly a billion. There were some notable trades in the secondary. Berkeley Heights, California 2s of 2021, traded at 0.38%-0.37%. Collin

The University of Illinois heads into the market Thursday with mixed agency rating views on its outlook as the state’s flagship university manages through the COVID-19 fiscal storm. The $90.6 million competitive issue offers $59.2 million of tax-exempt auxiliary facilities bonds and $31.4 million of taxable refunding bonds under the same credit. New money in

Secondary action took a backseat to the primary again on Wednesday as more supply slipped into the market, led by deals from Bay State issuers. Inflows continue, with ICI reporting another $2.9 billion. Munis remained little changed as participants count down the days to the end of the first half of the year and the

WASHINGTON — Ahead of the Federal Reserve’s anticipated announcement of banks’ stress test results, three Democratic senators are urging the regulator to require banks it oversees to suspend dividend payments in order to build their capital cushions while continuing to lend during coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and Vice

Issuers and accountants found that common reporting deficiencies found in annual financial statements include missing capital-related borrowing calculations and inconsistent pension terminology due to changes in accounting standard rules over the years. In a Government Finance Officers Association webinar Tuesday, panelists detailed their common findings and mistakes in governments’ comprehensive annual financial reports. One hiccup

Two rating upgrades should help Corpus Christi, Texas, achieve savings on $482 million of refunding bonds going to market over the next week, its top finance official said. The city on the Gulf of Mexico plans to price $164 million of new money and refunding general obligation bonds Wednesday through negotiation with book runner UBS.

Buyers saw some supply price into a stable market on Tuesday as a wide variety of education deals dominated the municipal bond calendar. With yields mostly unchanged on the day and minimal trading, a New York underwriter said the short-end of the municipal market was trading sideways Tuesday in terms of pricing under pressure from

With a major college basketball tournament canceled earlier this year and concerts postponed until 2021 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky, S&P Global Ratings downgraded the arena’s debt by one notch due to the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on revenues. S&P on Friday lowered its ratings to BBB-plus from A-minus on the Louisville Arena

California lawmakers said Monday they have been able to bridge what appeared to be deep differences on the 2020-21 state budget in order to reach an agreement. The Legislature approved a proposed budget June 14 that was vastly different from the revised budget released by Gov. Gavin Newsom in May. The budget agreement protects core