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

The U.S. Virgin Islands Legislature complained about the governor’s lack of consultation before he declared a state of emergency to pay off Water and Power Authority debts. The legislature gathered Tuesday to express its concerns about Gov. Albert Bryan’s Monday action, which used the emergency declaration to authorize spending the government’s rainy-day funds for WAPA

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

The Securities and Exchange Commission has won its first ever case enforcing Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Rule G-42 on the duties of non-solicitor municipal advisors after a federal judge in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California granted partial summary judgment against Choice Advisors and its principal Matthias O’Meara. The court found that

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

The Inflation Reduction Act has paved the way for broader participation in affordable housing and a renewed focus by developers on sustainability, panelists at Baker Tilly’s 2024 DevelUP conference said this week. One panelist called the 2022 law “the largest opportunity to build foundational generational wealth that you will experience,” and others praised the tax

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

Mikhail Foux, Managing Director and Head Municipal Research & Strategy at Barclays, discusses the increasing retail concentration of muni ownership as fewer institutional investors are engaging in the asset class due to various regulatory and tax-policy related issues and what it means for munis during times of volatility. Bond Buyer Executive Editor Lynne Funk hosts.

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

Florida is coming to market early this week with a $1.5 billion taxable bond sale to bulk up the state’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund. The State Board of Administration Finance Corp. is planning to issue $1.5 billion of taxable revenue bonds in two maturities. “We convened with the underwriting group today and signed off on what