Bonds

What are the obstacles and opportunities surrounding ESG? How will inflation and labor shortages impact the IIJA? What does new tech, crypto and AI mean for electronic trading? The municipal finance community has a lot of questions going into 2023. Don’t miss the chance to get them answered at NATIONAL OUTLOOK on February 2, 2023.

The Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority issued $1.245 billion of restructured bonds and took other steps to enact its approved plan of adjustment Tuesday. The HTA plan of adjustment reduces HTA’s $6.4 billion of total claims by more than 80%. According to its terms, holders of $4.3 billion of HTA bonds get today’s $1.245

The public-private partnership between Red River Valley Alliance and the Metro Flood Diversion Authority won The Bond Buyer’s 21st annual Deal of the Year award for its bonds issued through the Public Finance Authority to reduce local flooding risk.  The issuance, which was the Deal of the Year in the P3 category, was one component

In an effort to combat “oil companies’ excess profits,” Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a “price gouging” penalty. Lawmakers began discussion of the proposal on Monday, the first day of a special session convened by Newsom. Given the upcoming holidays, lawmakers are not expected to debate the merits of the proposal at length until January when

For the second time this year, the trustee of bonds issued for the American Dream Mall in New Jersey drew down a reserve account to make a debt payment on $800 million of tax-exempt municipal bonds. Trustee U.S. Bank said in a notice to bondholders posted on the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA bond disclosure

Salem, Oregon, officials plan to ask a judge to validate an infrastructure bond measure approved by voters in November’s election, that is in limbo because an essential paragraph explaining how bonds would be repaid was left off the ballot measure. City leaders revealed Thursday that the sentence required by statute was missing from the ballot

The Oklahoma Turnpike Authority willfully violated the state’s Open Meeting Act when it failed to disclose a $5 billion, bond-financed extension plan on meeting agendas earlier this year, according to the first major ruling in litigation seeking to derail the project. Cleveland County District Court Judge Timothy Olsen ruled Thursday that OTA agendas for January

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority fuel line lenders reached a deal with the Oversight Board that would give them priority over bondholders’ treatment in the authority’s debt restructuring. The fuel line lenders’ $700 million claim would receive new PREPA bonds, the board said Thursday night in announcing the deal. “The principal to be paid on

A top-rated Texas program that guarantees public school bonds may be nearing a shutdown after its projected available capacity fell to just $653 million at the end of October.  The big drop from $3.52 billion at the end of September comes amid a huge wave of voter-approved school debt in the state. The Texas Permanent

Flood-stricken Kentucky counties still struggling to repair water networks are set to receive $10.6 million in federal assistance to help turn the taps back on, Gov. Andy Beshear said in a press conference Thursday. “Water and sewage infrastructure will be the largest cost of rebuilding,” Beshear said, revealing the state’s most recent damage assessment for

Municipals were little changed Friday as U.S. Treasuries pared back losses to end the day mixed after the morning shock of the hotter-than-expected jobs report sent them selling off. Equities ended mixed. The three-year muni-UST ratio Wednesday was at 62%, the five-year at 69%, the 10-year at 74% and the 30-year at 97%, according to

As the federal government’s emergency COVID-19 aid dwindles, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking at ways to restore its fiscal health in the face of a variety of challenges both new and old. The MTA’s proposed $19.2 billion budget for 2023 and its four-year financial plan both note that the $15 billion in

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy Judge Laura Taylor Swain approved a one-week delay of Thursday night’s deadline for an Oversight Board proposed plan of adjustment. The mediators in the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bankruptcy asked earlier on Thursday for the delay, citing a lack of data and analyses they were seeking from the

Tribal governments have begun putting the $20 billion received from the American Rescue Plan’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds to work, investing in 344 infrastructure and affordable housing projects consisting of a mix of clean water, water and sewer, broadband infrastructure and construction and rehabilitation of affordable housing. These and many other projects are

Puerto Rico government agencies and authorities completed their approval of extending LUMA Energy’s operation of the island’s electrical transmission and distribution system Wednesday. LUMA took over the system in June 2021 based on a short-term supplementary agreement that was supposed to be replaced by a 15-year Operating and Maintenance agreement on Thursday. However, that agreement

Commerce Bank is planning to acquire L.J. Hart & Co. to expand its products and services and overall capabilities to clients. Pending regulatory approval, St. Louis-based Commerce Bank will acquire the Chesterfield-based municipal bond underwriting and advisory firm to become a key part of Commerce Bank’s growing institutional fixed-income business that is currently operated by

Municipals were firmer Tuesday in a constructive secondary market while two large new-issues from the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts led the primary. U.S. Treasuries were weaker, and equities ended down. Triple-A benchmark yields fell up to seven basis points on the short end, depending on the scale, while

The Federal Highway Administration’s long-vacant top spot moved closer to being filled Tuesday after a key Senate panel endorsed former state transportation official Shailen Bhatt for the position. The FHWA administrator position has “been vacant for way too long,” said Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, during a committee

Municipals were better to start the week in constructive secondary trading while U.S. Treasuries pared back earlier gains to close the session mixed and equities ended in the red. Triple-A yields fell three to five basis points along the curve while UST were little changed to weaker by a basis point on the short end.

A proposed $2.1 billion development that includes an arena for the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes and municipal bond financing is scheduled for a vote by the Tempe City Council Tuesday evening. If approved, the developer will need to woo residents, who will have the final say on whether it will be built. The mostly