Bonds

The California Supreme Court has granted review of a case challenging retirement reforms state lawmakers approved 11 years ago, marking a return of pension spiking questions to the high court for the first time since a 2020 ruling on an Alameda County case. The new case — Ventura County Employees’ Retirement Association v. Criminal Justice

Chicago’s City Council on Friday approved the issuance of $1.25 billion of bonds to fund affordable housing and economic development programs after debating the measure for the past month. Rather than raising property taxes, the city will let about 45 tax increment financing districts expire and, once the tax revenue from those districts returns to

Moody’s Ratings on Monday revised Illinois’ outlook to positive from stable. The rating agency also affirmed the state’s A3 issuer rating and the A3 rating on Illinois’ general obligation debt and Build Illinois sales tax bonds. It assigned a rating of A3 to $1.8 billion of forthcoming Illinois GO bonds. The new bonds include $250

Local government officials in Texas are increasingly feeling the sting of 2021 state laws that banned big banks from underwriting municipal bonds for “boycotting” or “discriminating” against the fossil fuel or firearm industries. Several aired their grievances at The Bond Buyer’s Texas Public Finance conference in Austin last week, noting the impact of the laws,

Fitch Ratings affirmed both Miami Jewish Health Systems and Subsidiaries long-term issuer default ratings and the the city of Miami Health Facilities Authority’s $41 million of Series 2017 revenue bonds issued by on behalf of MJHS at speculative-grade BB-plus. The rating outlook on both is negative, Fitch said. “The affirmation reflects good growth in the

The devil is in the details and, so far, the details are few and far between in the late once again New York State budget. Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced a conceptual agreement with state lawmakers on the $237 billion fiscal 2025 budget. “Based on a preliminary assessment of the negotiated changes to the

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has approved a request for comment for amendments to its Form A-12 under its registration rule A-12, which would collect information on associated persons from bank dealers for display on MSRB.org. That step was approved during the MSRB’s second quarter meeting that concluded Thursday. The meeting also discussed a bevy

Florida’s Brightline passenger train has added a chunk of unrated tax-exempt paper to an extensive debt restructuring that may price in the coming days, according to investors. Price talk Friday for the paper hovered between 11% and 15%, said an investor who is watching the deal. The bonds are subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

A contentious rule proposal has a host of broker-dealer and investment firms calling for a rewrite as the effects on the municipal bond market portend calamity.  “Overall, we recommend that the rules in general be reconsidered and ideally rewritten,” said Susan Joyce, head of muni trading & FI market structure, AllianceBernstein. “We definitely see a

Improved finances brought Los Angeles Unified School District upgrades from two ratings agencies as it heads to market April 24 with a $2.98 billion Build America Bonds redemption and general obligation bond refunding. The upgrades affect roughly $11 billion in outstanding GOULT bonds and $472 million in outstanding COPs. The school district is the third

A whopping $13 billion new-issue calendar awaits investors for the final full week of April in what has been a challenging month as macroeconomic data, Federal Reserve policy uncertainty and geopolitical turmoil have caused nearly daily mood swings in all markets. Triple-A yields were little changed Friday ahead of the larger calendar while U.S. Treasuries

California’s Hollywood Burbank Airport has embarked on a $1.3 billion project to replace its dowdy and arguably obsolete passenger terminal with a safer, more comfortable and contemporary one. Paying for the project, which broke ground in January, will add substantial debt to the balance sheet of an airport that hadn’t issued bonds since 2015. The

Municipal bond mutual funds saw the first large outflows of 2024, marking tax-deadline selling pressure coinciding with higher rates and volatile U.S. Treasury market moves. LSEG Lipper reported $1.47 billion of outflows from municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending April 17, “as higher rates and tax liabilities drove outflows from both [exchange-traded funds]

When it comes to issuing municipal bonds in Louisiana, state Treasurer John Fleming like things just the way they are. Fleming is pushing back against a proposal in the state Legislature that would make changes to the way the state Bond Commission oversees the issuance of debt by cities, counties and local governments and entities.

Municipals were little changed Wednesday as supply slowed and small inflows into muni mutual funds returned. U.S. Treasury yields fell and equities saw losses. The Investment Company Institute reported small inflows to municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending April 10, with investors adding $18 million to funds following $69 million of outflows the week

Wisconsin’s Housing and Economic Development Authority last week rolled out its Infrastructure Access Loan program, a partnership with developers and local governments to build more workforce housing, against the backdrop of a worsening housing affordability crisis. Housing supply shortages and high home prices have driven existing home sales to a nadir last seen during the

Municipals were slightly weaker as the focus turned to a large new-issue day with deals upsized and accelerated. The asset class followed U.S. Treasuries to higher yields while equities closed the session up. Triple-A yields rose one to five basis points, depending on the curve, while UST yields rose up to four basis points. The

Municipals were slightly weaker Monday, but outperformed U.S. Treasuries which saw larger losses across the curve. Equities sold off. Triple-A yields rose one to four basis points while U.S. Treasury yields rose up to 11 with the largest losses out long. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 63%, the three-year at 61%, the five-year

Brodie Killian has moved to PFM Financial Advisors from Stifel Nicolas & Co., joining its Ann Arbor office as a director. The move represents the capstone achievement of Killian’s broad career in the municipal bond market, he told The Bond Buyer.  “My past experience gives me a unique perspective as a municipal advisor who has

The New York City Municipal Water Finance Authority is returning to the municipal bond market for its second issuance this year.  The authority is scheduled to price $450 million of fixed-rate second resolution bonds, with a retail order period Monday followed by institutional pricing Tuesday, according to an online investor presentation. $400 million will fund