Gov. Rick Perry has replaced chairman Paul Hudson with fellow Public Utility Commission member Barry Smitherman, while keeping Hudson on the three-member panel that regulates utilities in the state. Perry appointed Smitherman to the panel in April 2004. Smitherman has nearly two decades in public banking and legal positions, andalso served as assistant district attorney in Harris County. The Bond Buyer reported in 2002 that Bank One fired Smitherman for failing to get approval before submitting an opinion piece to the Houston Chronicle. Smitherman and PUC board member Julie Parsley voted down a proposal by Hudson in 2006 designed to save millions of Texans about $17 per month on their electric bills. The plan’s legality was questionable and conveyed the wrong message to electric markets, Smitherman and Parsley said at the time.
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The county commission said it hopes to regain Moody's ratings this fall.
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Market participants launched the largest lobbying effort in recent memory to protect municipal bonds and got what they wanted as the tax-exemption survived.
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UST yields rose across the curve in response to the employment report with the two-year rising nearly 10 basis points while municipals largely ignored the moves and ratios fell as a result.
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Oregon Department of Transportation leaders said they will begin layoffs Monday after lawmakers adjourned without passing a transportation funding bill.
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"If you are seeking the services of a municipal advisor, it would be helpful to use the term municipal advisor in your RFP/Qs," said Sanchez, director of the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities.
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The growth of the muni market comes as issuance surges, with the first half of the year seeing $280.64 billion of supply, up 14.3% year-over-year, according to LSEG.
July 3