Bonds

As the election approaches, tax policy issues are moving to the fore including pass-through entity exemptions used to negate the effects of the cap on state and local tax deductions.  “If the SALT cap expires, then you’re going to see some states where they didn’t have this legislation, have to figure out what to do,

Samuel A. Ramirez & Co. has added public finance bankers in three separate offices as it continues to broaden its national reach. Cordelia Mendez joins as a vice president in the New York City office, Ayanna Louis-Charles joins as a senior vice president in south Florida and Courtney Okezie joins as a vice president in

Alabama Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell will take over as co-head of the House Municipal Finance Caucus as Maryland Democrat Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger retires at the end of his term. Sewell will take the caucus helm at a key time as Congress is expected to tackle tax policy next year in a debate that municipal bond

The Louisiana Bond Commission approved the sale of $620 million in aviation revenue bonds and $220 million in sales tax bonds and modified conditions for up to $1 billion in gas and fuels tax bonds it previously authorized. The commission consented to the sale of up to $575 million in general airport revenue refunding bonds

New Mexico’s Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners approved its biggest-ever issuance of industrial revenue bonds on Tuesday with an up to $942 million conduit deal for a solar cell manufacturing facility. Proceeds from the taxable debt will help finance an 834,000-square-foot facility in the Mesa del Sol industrial development area for Ebon Solar that officials

Dan Callahan joined UMB Bank’s capital markets division as a senior vice president and public finance banker, the bank announced last week. Based in Austin, Callahan will oversee sales and business development, focusing on “UMB’s continued growth in the Texas municipal market through enhanced offerings in school municipal financing that will deliver sustainable results for

Law firm Sherman & Howard will merge with Taft effective Jan. 1, in a move aimed at extending their combined public finance geographical reach. The merged group will be positioned to serve public finance clients across an expanded footprint and beyond, the law firms said in a statement.  “With this merger, we are deepening the

Bond-financed redevelopment underpins Kansas City, Missouri’s plan to tackle decades-old blight and environmental issues that go back further in the Historic Northeast neighborhood. Clay County Commissioner Scott Wagner, previously a Kansas City councilman, told The Bond Buyer that “just the sheer magnitude” of this redevelopment project presented a challenge, but it stands a chance of

Moody’s Ratings revised the outlook on New Mexico’s Aa2 rating to positive from stable, while downgrading ratings on certain state transportation and severance tax bonds in the wake of a methodology update review.  The positive outlook, which affects $521 million of outstanding general obligation bonds, reflects Moody’s view “the state’s strong financial position, reflected in

Municipals were steady to start the week while the focus moved to the hefty primary slate as several deals priced bonds for retail to good demand. U.S. Treasuries were slightly weaker and equities closed the session in the black. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Monday was at 64%, the three-year at 66%, the five-year at 66%,

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. Career moves are still heating up even as the fourth quarter approaches, and the industry gets more settled following Citi’s exit from the municipal bond market and UBS’s exit from the negotiated underwriting business at the end of 2023.  Chicago Transit Authority

Tampa, Florida’s sales and utility tax bonds were upgraded to Aa1 from Aa3 by Moody’s Ratings and the outlook is stable. The upgrade affects Series 2016 and 2020 sales tax refunding and improvement bonds and Series 2012A and C utilities tax and Series 2010A & B utility tax revenue bonds. “That’s great news, and it

Despite the pressure on U.S. Treasuries this week following the Federal Reserve’s 50 basis point rate cut, municipals closed out the week on track to post positive returns for the fourth consecutive month, the first time since 2021. Triple-A municipal yield curves were lightly traded and little changed while Treasuries saw small improvements for the

Federal Reserve Board Governor Michelle Bowman.Julia Nikhinson/Bloomberg The Federal Reserve cited slower price growth and a softer labor market in its decision to lower interest rates by a half percentage point this week, but one policymaker sees those trends differently.  Fed Gov. Michelle Bowman voted against the decision Wednesday, noting that she would have preferred

The death knell isn’t ringing for the tax exemption on municipal bonds, according to a panel at the National Association of Bond Lawyers conference, at least not yet — although the panel suggested the industry remind lawmakers of the role bonds play in their communities. The exemption remains an issue as policymakers will need to

The House is expected to be working the weekend in order to bring a vote early next week on the continuing resolution, the funding package that is Congress’ best bet on keeping the government open after the fiscal year ends Sept. 30. Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson’s six month funding package failed on

The Gateway Development Commission expects to finalize its last grant for the Hudson Tunnel Project by the end of the month, according to its CFO, Pat McCoy.  With the $3.8 billion grant from the Federal Railroad Administration, the project will have secured all of its funding, McCoy said at his fireside chat with the Municipal

Municipals were steady to weaker in spots Thursday, as U.S. Treasury yields rose five years and out and equities rallied. The two-year muni-to-Treasury ratio Thursday was at 64%, the three-year at 66%, the five-year at 66%, the 10-year at 70% and the 30-year at 86%, according to Refinitiv Municipal Market Data’s 3 p.m. EST read.

As extreme weather becomes more common and the federal deficit hits new records, the onus will be on state and local governments to finance the future of resilient infrastructure. The good news is they have plenty of capacity to take on the debt and retail investors are clamoring for the paper. That’s the view of

The Empire State Development Corp. is set to sell $335.7 million of state sales tax revenue bonds on Thursday. The competitive deal is the only sizable offering from a New York state issuer on this week’s calendar, a contrast to the billion-dollar deals the state’s issuers have sold in recent months.  It was a week