Louisiana

After four hurricanes and 11 insurer insolvencies, a $458 million deal for the Louisiana Insurance Guaranty Association supplies capital to pay claims.

The allocation for Strategic Biofuels LLC received final approval from the Louisiana Community Development Authority, conduit issuer for the tax-exempt bonds.

"It was a misguided effort from the beginning to ever use the Bond Commission and any of the work that it does to send a political message to anyone for any reason," said Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Municipal bond issuers in the Southeast sold $40.7 billion of bonds in the first half of this year, a 6.3% year-over-year increase.

The Louisiana Bond Commission approved $600 million of notes to help pay Hurricane Ida damage claims after several insurers went bankrupt and up to $1.1 billion to build a biorefinery.

Most top 10 issuers for 1H are from New York and California, with four from New York and two from California.

NOAA predicts six to 10 hurricanes and expects that between three and six of those will be classified as major storms in categories three to five.

As summer beckons, it's time for a reporters' roundtable with some of the Bond Buyer's senior staff. Yvette Shields, Karen Pierog, Keeley Webster and Thomas Nocera talk with Chip Barnett about what's hot in their regions and what municipal bond market participants should expect to see in the months ahead. (25 minutes)

The rating agency said the action reflects significant progress the state has made restoring its financial reserves and liquidity in recent years.

Elected officials in Republican-dominated states say S&P Global Ratings, by introducing ESG analysis, is politicizing the ratings process or even possibly acting illegally.