Final financing deals are nearly complete for two long-planned commuter rail projects billed as transformational for the Northwest Indiana corridor that sits in the shadow of Chicago along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Both Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District projects achieved major milestones in June. The Indiana Finance Authority closed on a $203.3 million federal Railroad
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Local governments plan to spend the majority of their Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds on roads, with water and broadband projects also getting high priority. That’s according to a joint survey by the National League of Cities and Polco, in which 82% of respondents said they intended to spend federal dollars on roads, bridges
A ballot initiative that would have raised taxes on wealthy Californians to fund pandemic prevention and public health programs will appear on the 2024 ballot. Max Henderson, the startup investor who led efforts, told California Healthline they delayed the measure, because concerns about COVID-19 are being crowded out by economic pressures. “Our goal was to
A heat wave blasting Texas and other states is not shaping up to be a hot-weather version of 2021’s Winter Storm Uri and its days-long blackouts, according to Fitch Ratings. Summer capacity constraints and rolling blackouts, should they happen, “are not viewed as a near-term risk to U.S. public power and electric cooperative credit quality,”
The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York headlined the top 10 issuers of the first half of 2022, almost all of which outperformed their par amounts year-over-year. Five new issuers entered the top 10, two of which did not sell debt in the first half of 2021. The five issuers who fell out
The top municipal underwriters accounted for $199.247 billion in 4,650 issues in the first half of 2022, down from the $222.640 billion in 6,201 transactions during last year’s first half. BofA Securities remained in the top spot — underwriting $24.528 billion of deals — despite accounting for considerably fewer transactions and market share than the
Transcription:Chip Barnett: (00:03)Hi and welcome to another Bond Buyer podcast. I’m Chip Barnett. My guest today is Tom Wright. He’s the president and chief executive officer of the Regional Plan Association. The Regional Plan Association is the nation’s oldest independent metropolitan research planning and advocacy organization. The RPA is a private nonprofit corporation, which aims
The nearly $1 trillion of federal pandemic aid that flowed to state and local governments over the last two years helped stave off massive job losses but public sector job recovery has been slow and remains anemic compared to other sectors. That’s according to a paper on the effectiveness of federal pandemic relief presented Monday
Michigan’s new budget package provides an $11 million lifeline that will stave off the looming closure of Sturgis Hospital as it works on a long-term fix for its weakened fiscal health that left the city on the hook to cover a recent lease payment related to debt service. The City of Sturgis Building Authority in
Municipals were little changed Monday as investors awaited a larger new-issue calendar that kicks off with $800 million-plus Washington general obligation bonds in the competitive market Tuesday. Munis ignored the moves to higher yields in U.S. Treasuries while equities were down. Triple-A yields were steady while USTs moved three to eight basis points higher. Muni
After dancing with default on a June municipal bond payment, the owners of American Dream megamall in New Jersey face an Aug. 1 payment on another set of tax-exempts. Two separate municipal bond offerings sold through conduit Public Finance Authority helped finance the mall. The largest, $800 million of limited obligation PILOT revenue bonds, stumbled
Investors are continuing their flight from mutual fund investments, as individual investors and tax-exempt exchange traded funds take up more of the market share. That’s according to a recent mid-year market update from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. “The supply/demand equation changed rapidly, as mutual funds, the largest buyer of municipal bonds, especially in the
The Texas laws that bar underwriters with discriminatory policies against the oil and firearms industries may force municipalities to face higher borrowing costs as a result of less competition among underwriters. That’s according to a new paper that was dissected during the Brookings Institution’s 11th annual Municipal Finance Conference Monday. Its authors Daniel Garrett, an
Arizona is blazing a new trail in the school choice movement by expanding a state-funded program to allow all parents to choose where their children are educated. The impact on public school finances is uncertain as the law signed July 7 by Gov. Doug Ducey could face a voter referendum and no one knows just
U.S. Representative Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., submitted a bill Friday for a binding plebiscite on Puerto Rico’s political status, but its chances of passage are slim. The bill would offer Puerto Rico voters three options: statehood, independence, and sovereignty in free association with the United States. The current status as a territory would not be offered.
Next week’s planned sale of $2.7 billion of taxable business-tax backed special obligation revenue bonds by Massachusetts is being postponed as state lawmakers negotiate a bill that could affect the plan. A bill was introduced earlier this week, according to a notice from Jefferies LLC and BofA Securities, joint book-running senior managers for the deal,
Municipals were little changed to close out the week, while U.S. Treasury yields fell slightly and equities rallied. Muni to UST ratios were at 65% in five years, 83% in 10 years and 96% in 30 years, according to Refinitiv MMD’s 3 p.m. read. ICE Data Services had the five at 64%, the 10 at
The stock market decline of 2022 is projected to push the unfunded liabilities of state-run pension systems to $1.3 trillion for the fiscal year, according to a Reason Foundation analysis. The steps taken by states to bolster pension funds by lowering anticipated return rates during boom years combined with record-setting investment returns in 2021 isn’t
Rising inflation and falling stock prices are getting ready to take a big bite out of the Big Apple’s economic recovery. According to a report released this week by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, June’s personal income tax data are showing the effects the sagging stock market and volatile bond market are having on
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin has dealt President Biden and the Democrats’ Build Back Better bill a final blow, refusing to accept key tax and climate provisions and destroying any hope for reviving the muni market agenda before elections in November. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., had been negotiating with fellow Democrat Manchin for