Bonds

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders say they are owed $8.5 billion and the timeframe of being able to collect on their claim should continue in perpetuity. That was a central point of contention during Tuesday’s PREPA bond claim estimation hearing during which lawyers for the bondholders and the Oversight Board argued about what the

In meeting renewable energy goals, Virginia has found a new purpose for its old mine lands. State officials believe they can turn an epidemic of mine closures to their advantage by developing a growing number of abandoned properties into renewable energy hubs, leveraging millions of new funds to bring private developers to the table on

House Republicans on Tuesday sharply criticized responses from the Federal Reserve and the Department of Treasury, taking the agencies to task for rate hikes that they said damaged the municipal and other markets, thwarted transparency, and cracked the banking system.     The comments came during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday. The discussions included

Fresh off enacting a tax credit program tied to private school education, Oklahoma will directly fund a religious charter school — a move the state’s attorney general called unconstitutional and potentially costly for the state to defend. In a 3-2 vote Monday, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved an application from the Roman

The New York City Housing Development Corp. is coming to market this month with $891.75 million of bonds to help back construction of much-needed new housing projects in the city. The NYC HDC plans to issue $641.75 million of Series 2023A-1, 2023A-2 and 2022G multi-family housing revenue bonds not subject to the alternative minimum tax

An assisted-living complex for low-income senior residents in southern New Jersey has been struggling to make timely monthly loan payments. New Standard Senior Living said construction delays at its Village Drive campus in Millville has impeded its ability to lease units and choked its cash flow, according to a recent regulatory filing. While such holdups

Less than a month before New York City faces a deadline for a balanced budget agreement, Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council seem as far apart as ever over the need for either increased spending or more cuts. By law, the mayor and council must agree on a balanced budget by July 1. Last

Reinvestment needs will top new-issue supply by about $30 billion from June to August, which should boost the asset class after May’s atypical losses. Reinvestments, which includes maturities, called bonds and coupons, total over $114 billion over the next four months, according to ICE Data. While June often begins softer as investors assess how new-issue

AES Puerto Rico, a firm that supplies about 21% of the electricity transmitted by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, defaulted Thursday, missing an $18 million interest and principal payment on outstanding municipals it priced through a conduit in 2000. In a notice to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA site on Friday, AES Puerto

Struggling with declining enrollment, Oregon’s Portland State University had its outlook revised to negative by Moody’s Investors Service, affecting $193 million of outstanding debt. Enrollment declined by more than 20% over the past six years, and expectations of continued declines over the next four years at the downtown Portland university were cited by Moody’s in

Municipals were slightly firmer Friday, outperforming a U.S. Treasury selloff after a hotter-than-expected jobs report. Equities rallied. Triple-A yields were firmer by up to four basis points while Treasuries were weaker by up to 15 on the short end. Short ratios fell as a result. The two-year muni-Treasury ratio Friday was at 66%, the three-year

The Austin City Council on Thursday approved an $88 million settlement with an airport terminal operator that will allow a largely bond-financed expansion and development program at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport to move forward with a midfield concourse project.  The settlement paid with airport revenue will end litigation against the city by LoneStar Airport Holdings,

Two Missouri-based hospital operators, BJC HealthCare and Saint Luke’s Health System, are the latest to join the trend of large-system mergers. The two signed a letter of intent to form an integrated not-for-profit Missouri-based health system Wednesday. The systems will work to reach a definitive agreement “in the coming months” with a closing anticipated by the

Political brinkmanship has the nation’s credit rating headed towards a race against the clock in the U.S. Senate, though the crisis now appears near resolution after the House Wednesday night passed the 99-page Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, a bipartisan effort to avoid default.  Municipal market participants are moved to cautious optimism about the latest events.

Pending state legislation that boosts Milwaukee’s revenue raising prospects falls short of what the city needs to manage rising pension and other costs, Fitch Ratings said in cutting the city’s general obligation bond rating by two notches. Fitch dropped the rating Tuesday to BBB-plus from A and warned of the potential for further deterioration by

May municipal bond issuance dropped 29% year-over-year in May as issuers dealt with rising interest rates stemming from debt ceiling concerns, Federal Reserve policy uncertainty and overall market volatility. Total volume for the month was $26.062 billion in 677 issues, down from $36.583 billion in 928 issues a year earlier, according to Refinitiv data. Tax-exempt issuance

Municipals were firmer Tuesday as U.S. Treasuries rallied on improved chances that Congress will raise the debt ceiling and avoid a U.S. default. Equities ended mixed. Triple-A yields fell three to 10 basis points, depending on the scale, underperforming U.S. Treasuries, which improved by five to 14 basis points with the largest gains on the

Chicago’s new mayor, Brandon Johnson, is tasking a “working group” that includes his finance team and state legislative and labor representatives with finding long-term funding fixes to ease the city’s pension funding woes. Chicago’s $33.7 billion of pension liabilities remain a huge burden on the city’s balance sheet and budget despite progress in recent years.

California lawmakers are betting voters have had a change of heart regarding the need for a statewide school bond measure. The state Senate approved on Wednesday a $15.5 billion school construction bond measure that would go before voters in March that is similar to the $15 billion Proposition 13, a failed school bond measure that

Municipals were weaker in the belly of the curve Thursday while U.S. Treasury yields sold off on the short end on Fed speak and continued concerns over the debt ceiling impasse. Equities were mixed near the close. Despite the rally in tech stocks, USTs and munis are reacting to uneven economic data and a potential