Bonds

Fitch Ratings revised the outlook to positive from negative on $1.2 billion in private-activity bonds issued to pay for Los Angeles World Airport’s people mover project. Fitch also affirmed the BB-plus rating on the two series of senior lien revenue bonds issued through the California Municipal Finance Authority for LINXS, the consortium of private companies

A business group filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging the constitutionality of a 2021 Texas law that punishes banks and other financial firms for “boycotting” the fossil fuel industry. The case, brought by the American Sustainable Business Council against Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar and Attorney General Ken Paxton in federal court in Austin, claims the law

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works is changing leadership regardless of who wins the election as Chairman Tom Carper, a champion of the Biden administration’s tax and infrastructure policies, including the Inflation Reduction Act, will not be returning to Congress next term. “As Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, I’m

Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen last week signed into law a package of bills that includes caps on spending authority for local cities and counties. Their signing follows a concerted push by Pillen to pass property tax reform by calling a special session of the legislature on July 25.  The governor’s plan originally was to secure

The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Tensquare, a national charter school support organization, and its partner Karl Jentoft for acting as a municipal advisor on eight municipal bond issuances for eight separate charter schools in Minnesota. Without admitting or denying the findings, Tensquare had been ordered to pay $51,716 in disgorgement, $9,523.59 in prejudgement

A class-action lawsuit filed Monday by Austin, Texas, property taxpayers against the city seeks the elimination of $187 million in property tax revenue allocated in the 2024 tax year for a light-rail project. The litigation is the latest salvo in a legal battle over the ability of the Austin Transit Partnership, a nonprofit corporation created

The nation’s largest children’s hospital has hit a rough financial patch, leading to two bond rating downgrades and plans to cut nearly 1,000 jobs, while it eyes a return to the municipal bond market. Ratings for Houston-based Texas Children’s Hospital were cut one notch to AA-minus by Fitch Ratings in July and Aug. 19 by

Municipals were steady Monday as U.S. Treasuries were slightly weaker and equities ended mixed. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 62%, the three-year at 65%, the five-year at 66%, the 10-year at 71% and the 30-year at 87%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s 3 p.m. EST read. ICE Data Services had the two-year

Ohio’s Eastern Gateway Community College will dissolve and close after a series of missteps and scandals. Red flags include settling a lawsuit with the Department of Education over its handling of Pell Grants for students; a grand jury indictment of its former president and his chief of staff; and failing to file on the Municipal

Mirroring national trends, most states in the Far West enjoyed a double-digit jump in municipal bond issuance in the first half of the year as market conditions for borrowers improved. Issuance across the nine-state region totaled $49.7 billion, up 28.3% from $38.7 billion over the same period last year, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

Nevada would get its first toll road under a public-private partnership floated by the city of Sparks. State lawmakers would need to approve the move, as Nevada law currently bans fees on roads that are part of P3s. The city manager of Sparks, located just east of Reno, has proposed a 13-mile toll road that

Major infrastructure improvements will aid the U.S. Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority’s finances in the coming months and years, officials said. WAPA is under extreme financial pressure, according to board members, and its electric system revenue bonds were rated CC, before Fitch Ratings withdrew the rating in December. The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved

The end is near for a 52-year public-private partnership that built a managed lanes toll road project in the Houston area, with the Texas Department of Transportation announcing Friday the state intends to take over the project’s operation in October. The move came after financing for the P3 termination was cleared Thursday by the Texas

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole Friday removed any uncertainty of a rate cut at the Fed’s September meeting, pushing U.S. Treasury yields lower on the short end, with municipals following suit, while stocks rallied on the news. “Powell has rung the bell for the start of the cutting cycle,” said Seema

The Senate Committee on Banking Housing and Urban Affairs is facing major changes in its makeup depending on the outcome of the election, especially if Chairman Sherrod Brown, D – Ohio,loses his race.    “The committee is filled with senior members, so I assume the likes of Sens. Jack Reed and Elizabeth Warren will push for

Municipals were little changed Thursday as U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities ended down. This year’s summer technical picture has been stronger than 2023, said AllianceBernstein strategists. Total returns for June through August last year were –0.04%, with August wiping out June and July gains as UST yields “jumped” and muni yields moved higher, they

Municipal bond issuers in the Midwest sold a bit more debt in the first half of 2024 than they did a year earlier, but the region largely missed out on big gains in bond volume nationwide. Midwest bond sale volume rose to $34.377 billion from $33.78 billion, according to data from LSEG, a 1.8% increase.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell’s much-anticipated speech at the Jackson Hole symposium should offer clues about the Fed’s thinking ahead of its September meeting, but with limits. “Fed watchers will be parsing Powell’s comments for signs that a 50bp rate cut is on the table for September,” noted Lauren Saidel-Baker, an economist with ITR

The National Association of Bond Lawyers will award Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the Bernard P. Friel Medal and David Cholst the Federick O. Kiel Distinguished Service Award for their individual contributions to NABL and to the industry over the last four decades. Those will be given out during NABL’s The Workshop 2024, held in Chicago

Although charter school bonds seem to naturally lend themselves to a social label, there are inherent risks to taking that step. “One of the biggest questions that often come up is, what are the qualification requirements of being a social bond?” said Ryan Callender, partner, Squire Patton Boggs. “Unfortunately, there’s really no one answer to