Florida

The express train last week completed a long-awaited extension to the Orlando airport.

The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association is getting ready to head back to the market next week with a variable-rate bond deal after successfully selling fixed-rate bonds last week to help fund claims from insolvent insurance companies.

The Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, which handles the claims of insolvent insurers, plans to borrow $600 million in the municipal bond market.

Delegates from Florida and Alabama are among those hunting for partnerships to cement their states' roles in the global aerospace industry.

The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said the state unemployment rate in May was steady at 2.6% for the fifth straight month, the lowest among the 10 largest states in the nation.

The upgrade lifts $1 billion of the Jacksonville system's water and sewer system senior revenue bonds to AA-plus from AA.

"While everyone is watching the federal government experience a debt crisis and come close to defaulting on our nation's debt for the first time in history, Miami's credit rating was just recently upgraded," said Mayor Francis Suarez.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion concerns are exerting more influence in public finance.

Walt Disney Co., embroiled in a high-profile fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, is closing a luxury hotel at Walt Disney World and dropping plans to relocate 2,000 California employees to a new corporate campus it was building in the state.

Brightline's luxury train in Florida accounts for half of the Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond Fund's top 10 positions.

Panelists at the National Federation of Municipal Analysts discussed their experiences dealing with resiliency in the face of budgetary and environmental problems.

The staying power of these laws will depend on a number of factors, including the willingness of states to accept increased borrowing costs or whether to utilize the laws' existing exceptions to obtain a more economically advantageous deal.

"This recent escalation of the Disney-DeSantis fight is unnerving, but it doesn't make that fight any more consequential for the municipal market," said Justin Marlowe of the University of Chicago.

"When the rating agencies developed and rolled out their ESG scores, they said their ESG scores would not impact an issuer's credit rating. We are holding them to their word," said Ben Watkins, director of the state Division of Bond Finance.

The state Senate on Tuesday gave a green light to the general appropriations act, which now goes into a constitutionally required 72-hour cooling off period before a Friday vote.

The Jacksonville office is the firm's first in Florida and 28th location in the United States.

Walt Disney Co. sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, alleging he's threatening billions of dollars in business as retaliation for the company speaking against his policies.

The Florida Legislature has passed a law that bans the issuance of municipal bonds, such as green bonds that use environmental, social or governance criteria. The bill now heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis for his signature.

"Florida may have the statutory authority to abrogate an agreement, but  what does that say for things going forward?" asks Joseph Krist, publisher of Muni Credit News. "Why couldn't an anti-development administration do the same thing in reverse to somewhere like the Villages?"

The collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX had prompted the county and the team to look for a new partner for the 19,600-seat arena.