Bonds

Illinois drew a fresh rating upgrade Tuesday for making further progress in tackling its chronic fiscal sore spots. Moody’s Investors Service raised Illinois’ general obligation and sales tax-backed Build Illinois bonds by one notch to A3 from Baa1 and assigned a stable outlook. The upgrade also lifts the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority’s rating one

Wisconsin heads into the market Tuesday with a new money and refunding transportation issue against a backdrop of debate over how to spend a record $7 billion surplus, with the legislature’s Republican majority in the driver’s seat. The size of the borrowing is in flux and dependent on market technicals Tuesday when the deal is

The Federal Reserve’s top regulator will lead a probe of its supervision activity that preceded the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, the central bank announced Monday. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will conduct a review of the regulation and supervision activity applied to Santa Clara, Calif.-based Silicon Valley Bank, which was shut

Chicago-based Illinois Institute of Technology lost its investment grade rating over rapidly escalating operating deficits that are expected to persist through at least 2024, governance practices, a risky debt structure and concerns over whether capital investments will pay off. Moody’s Investors Service cut the private nonprofit university’s rating two notches to Ba2 from Baa3 Tuesday

California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta announced two lawsuits against the city of Huntington Beach for violating state housing laws during a Thursday press conference. What follows may be a test case for recent state laws designed to lower the barriers to new housing construction. Housing’s high cost and low availability has

Underwriters completed pricing Thursday of a $3.52 billion Texas securitization deal for natural gas providers, but the bonds may stay in investors’ hands only for a short time. The Texas Senate Finance Committee advanced a supplemental appropriations bill Wednesday that includes money to pay off the bonds and possibly debt incurred by other utilities as

Eligible local governments in Michigan with weak pension funding ratios will soon get an infusion of funding promised by the state through a $750 million grant program.   The Michigan Department of Treasury has kicked off the funding process with the launch of the Protecting Michigan Pension Grant Program, authorized in the state’s fiscal 2023 budget. The

President Joe Biden unveiled a 2024 budget Thursday that raises taxes on high earners and large corporations while providing relief for struggling urban mass transit systems and sending money to states and locals for climate resiliency projects. The proposal totals $6.9 trillion, up from last year’s $6.4 trillion of federal spending. Discretionary spending would total

Voters in South Burlington, Vermont, approved a $34 million wastewater bond proposal on Tuesday, the largest of several similar local referendums approved statewide. The South Burlington wastewater bonds will fund overhauling and replacing pumps that serve the Bartlett Bay Wastewater Treatment Facility, which provides service to nearly all of South Burlington’s 20,282 residents. The facility,

Illinois expects another $575 million of general fund revenues in the current fiscal year as steady income and sales tax collections through February pushed worries over an economic slowdown and the impact of a potential recession further out on the horizon.   The legislature’s non-partisan Commission on Forecasting and Accountability raised its estimate for revenues

Unsteady leadership has challenged the financial stability of Wellfleet, Massachusetts, according to a state review of the town’s financial management that was recently made public. High turnover rates in key government positions over the last decade left the Cape Cod town of 4,035 without sustainable revenue streams and in need of fundamental reforms, the Division

Illinois’ budget and pension stabilization funds would receive automatic deposits when the state hits revenue growth and bill payment triggers under legislation that cleared a House committee this week. With a series of infusions over the last two fiscal years, the state’s once-depleted rainy-day fund remains on track to hit $1.9 billion by the end

The Federal Reserve said further interest-rate hikes would be required to restore price stability. “The committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2% objective,” the Fed said in its semi-annual report to Congress released Friday. Officials expect “ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of

Legislation seeking to end government contracts with companies engaged in “boycotting” an expanded list of industries and business policies passed the Utah House and Senate late Thursday. Senate Bill 97 builds on laws previously enacted in Texas and a few other states focusing on “boycotts” of the fossil fuel or firearm industries by adding timber,

Rep. George Santos’, R-N.Y., introduction of a bill that would raise the federal limit of deductions to $50,000 for individuals or $25,000 for married individuals adds to the recent pile on of efforts by Congressional members to raise or remove the cap entirely, but it isn’t likely to get anywhere due to the Congressman’s nefarious

Idaho and Wyoming have joined other red states by introducing legislation to ban banks that “boycott” gun manufacturers or energy-related companies. Idaho House bills 189 and 190 introduced by Rep. Barbara Ehardt, R-Idaho Falls, left committees with do-pass recommendations and are headed for third readings on the House floor. Ehardt could not be reached for

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic called for continued interest-rate hikes to above 5% ensure that inflation returns to the central bank’s target and doesn’t reaccelerate in a pattern similar to the 1970s. “I think we will need to raise the federal funds rate to between 5% and 5.25% and leave it there

Rather than get entangled in controversy over environmental, social and governance issues, Louisiana decided to avoid any problems for its upcoming sale of $275 million of general obligation bonds. The state Bond Commission voted at its Feb. 24 meeting to move ahead with the GO deal via a competitive sale rather than a negotiated transaction

Central bankers must augment what they learn from incoming data with clues gleaned from the real economy and avoid putting too much weight on financial markets, said Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee. In his first public speech since taking office last month, Goolsbee acknowledged it was tempting to lean on the instant

MassachusettsGov. Maura Healey unveileda tax relief proposal Monday, a key feature of her administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget due to be presented to lawmakers on Wednesday. “This proposal centers affordability, competitiveness, and equity each step of the way, delivering relief to those who need it most and making reforms that will attract and retain more