Bonds

While political debate over Connecticut highway tolling remains at a standstill, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration warned about federal backlash over a state-of-good-repair backlog. Washington has a bull’s-eye on the state, according to the governor and his transportation secretary, Joseph Giulietti. “The warning light’s on the dashboard,” Lamont said in Hartford at a press conference laced

At the approach of the last week of the first half of 2019, the beat goes on for municipals as an asset class as it continues to see fundamentals working in its favor. “A week ago we had a strong new-issuance week and scales backed up two to four basis points, which made some breathe

A day after the Fed decided to hold interest rates at current levels, the muni market was “fatigued,” at least on the long end, while the short end saw improvement after a more dovish tone from the Federal Open Market Committee. “The long-end seems to have run out of gas,” said one southern trader. “The

Buyers of municipal bonds saw the Peach State hit to market with a bevy of bond sales while the Keystone State offered up some turnpike securities ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates steady. Primary marketGeorgia sold $941.32 million of unlimited tax general obligation bonds in four sales on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley

The stage is set for a possible New Jersey government shutdown after Democratic lawmakers scrapped Gov. Phil Murphy’s millionaire’s tax proposal and pitched their own budget plan just two weeks before a July 1 deadline. Legislative leaders announced Monday their own $38.7 billion 2020 fiscal year spending plan that doesn’t include the proposal from the

Amid a continuing population surge, local government sales tax allocations in Texas for June rose more than 10% over the same month last year to $782.1 million, state Comptroller Glenn Hegar said. Cities, counties and special districts such as hospital districts and municipal utility districts rely on sales taxes along with property taxes for their

Michigan’s attorney general dismissed all pending criminal cases related to the Flint water crisis, two of which were against former state-appointed city emergency managers. Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and the special prosecutor, Kym Worthy, made the announcement Thursday that all pending criminal cases brought by the former Office of Special Counsel had been dismissed without

Another big week lies in store for the municipal bond market as 2018’s top issuer gets set to hit the market with $1.6 billion of new supply. Overall, IHS Markit Ipreo forecasts weekly bond volume will hit $6.19 billion, down from a revised total of $9.9 billion in the prior week, according to updated data

CHICAGO — Local Illinois governments came out on the winning side in the new state budget, capital package, gambling expansion, and legalization of recreational cannabis adopted during a whirlwind 2019 spring legislative session. That’s the general assessment from Moody’s Investors Service, though it comes with some caveats, as the rating company calls gambling and cannabis-related

A third-straight increase in weekly jobless claims added to evidence that the labor market is cooling as analysts weighed the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates. Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 to 222,000 in the week ended June 8, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by IFR Markets had expected 217,000

Wells Fargo banker Peter Cannava, who continued his legal fight against the Securities and Exchange Commission even as fellow defendants settled in the 38 Studios enforcement action, has won that battle. Rhode Island U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. ruled Tuesday for Cannava, putting an end to the SEC’s litigation against him and effectively

With no surprises in the release of the producer price index, the Federal Reserve will have flexibility on rates, as inflation remains in check. On a year-over-year basis, the core price index, which excludes food and energy, rose 2.3% in May, down from a 2.4% rise in April. It was the lowest reading since January

After several lean years, New Mexico enters the 2020 fiscal year July 1 with a record budget for capital outlay projects after bountiful revenues from oil and gas. Lawmakers at this year’s session provided $993 million for 1,600 bond-funded projects around the state. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham enjoyed rising revenues in her first

After months of lamenting about the lack of supply, municipal investors will get their wish this week as nearly $10 billion of new volume will cure some of the pent-up demand. IHS Markit Ipreo forecasts weekly bond volume will increase to $9.9 billion from a revised total of $6.4 billion in the prior week, according

The U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority is seeking to raise electric rates to almost four times the national average as it struggles to resolve a mounting list of crises. The sole provider of electricity and water to the Virgin Islands is faced with a threatened cut-off of fuel from an unpaid supplier, an

In the wee hours Thursday morning, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont closed the General Assembly’s five-month regular session. “I hope it didn’t take too much of a toll on you,” he said, pun intended. “Which reminds me, we have a little bit of unfinished business.” Gov. Ned Lamont said a tolling package is necessary to fix

The Government Finance Officers Association presented awards for excellence in financial reporting to New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Wednesday. The awards were presented at the comptroller’s annual closing and accounting seminar at Police Plaza in Manhattan by Dawn Donovan, Town of Eastchester Comptroller and GFOA board member. The GFOA’s certificate of excellence in

While state credit quality is improving overall, that progress is still patchy regionally, according to Conning’s latest State of the States report. The report released Wednesday pointed out that the highest-ranked states were mostly west of the Mississippi River. Driven by expanding economies and population growth, Utah was named the top-ranked state, followed by Nevada

Paul Burton Paul Burton is the Northeast Regional Editor for The Bond Buyer and the author of the book “Tales from the Newsrooms.” He is a sought-after public speaker and has appeared on radio and TV shows, including former CBS News White House correspondent Sharyl Attkisson’s public-affairs program, “Full Measure.”

The tortured construction of Hartford’s Dunkin’ Donuts Park — marked by soaring costs for the city, the firing of the developer and a year delay in opening — has receded a bit in memory as the ballpark and its home team, the Yard Goats, host a third season, drawing fans even during a particularly rainy

A Missouri judge agreed with Platte County that it’s not on the hook to repay $32 million of defaulted industrial development bonds despite the county’s pledge to annually appropriate the funds needed to cover debt repayment. While the junk-rated county prevailed in the legal case, several market participants said it’s not likely to restore the

U.S. Virgin Islands Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. proposed a fiscal year 2020 budget that doesn’t address what credit analysts have called the islands’ “extremely large” pension underfunding problem. As of March 2018 the Government Employees Retirement System projected that it would run out of money in late 2020 or early 2021. It reported in August

Skeptics question the viability of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector streetcar project. His funding plan for the so-called BQX, an 11-mile, $2.7 billion waterfront route from Astoria in Queens through downtown Brooklyn to Red Hook, hinges on two huge variables — real estate value capture and aid from Washington. The estimated

Leadership of the Chicago City Council committee that vets bond deals and other financial transactions is in the hands of an independent who heads the council’s Progressive Caucus. The changing of the guard Wednesday gives Alderman Scott Waguespack — a frequent critic of new Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s two predecessors — a seat at the head

Representatives of minority- and women-owned small banks from around the country gathered in New York City last week to discuss ways to expand business opportunities. Attending MWBE University, last Thursday’s session focused on how small institutions can become a New York City-designated bank and receive tax breaks for contributing to the city’s development efforts. MWBE

The muni market is winding down to a pause for the long holiday weekend and when the market opens back up Tuesday, big deals will be few and far between, but the market will continue its run. “The holiday week provides a temporary pause, but I expect volume to continue to be on the low

Hilltop Securities, one of the nation’s top financial advisory and investment banking firms, has brought four managing directors on board in Houston and Connecticut through the purchase of two small firms. Yava Scott and Carmen Best, co-founders of YaCari Consultants, joined Hilltop’s Houston office. David Medanich, head of public finance for Hilltop Securities, said the

An axiom of fixed income investing is the principle that interest rates and bond or note prices have an inverse relationship. When rates rise, prices fall, and vice versa. Given that, it would seem reasonable that a portfolio manager who feared an impending increase in in interest rates would want to consider hedging his or

Puerto Rico’s April General Fund net revenues came in 24% above projections made in October. Through the first 10 months of the fiscal year, General Fund net revenues have come in 11% above October projections, the office of the governor said in a press statement on Friday. Puerto Rico Treasury Secretary Raúl Maldonado Gautier said

Lawmakers advanced a bill designed to make the New York State Department of Transportation more accountable for its capital planning. The state Assembly approved legislation Tuesday that would require the state DOT to create a 20 year transportation plan with updates every five years, in line with what is required by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.