Maryland

The Maryland Department of Transportation moves to shore up its debt service while funding bridge repairs, airport modernization, and rail improvements with a $21.2 billion budget commitment.

Governor Wes Moore of Maryland opened the state's General Assembly with a challenge to cut $2 billion of a $3 billion overall shortage as a new administration in Washington ups the stakes by eyeing a rollback of climate change funding.

It's the latest mark of distress for proton treatment centers financed with speculative-grade municipal bonds.

"Should September's positive returns hold as we expect, it would mark the fourth consecutive month of positive total returns — the first such period since the five-month period spanning from March through July 2021," BofA strategists Yingchen Li and Ian Rogow said.

The $180.24 million deal comprises $76.085 million of metropolitan district bonds and $104.155 million of consolidated public improvement bonds.

Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland is leveraging the P3 process to build eight new schools while issuing $663 million of taxable bonds.

The question of how much federal money Congress will provide for the replacement of the Key Bridge goes before the Senate Environmental Committee.

The request is part of the White House's larger funding request from Congress to cover disaster needs from tornados to wildfires.

A $345 million taxable bond deal will support the public-private partnership arrangement that will upgrade the College Park campus district energy system.

Issuance remains robust Wednesday with an estimated $5.9 billion, said J.P. Morgan strategists led by Peter DeGroot.

Shailen Bhatt, administrator for the Federal Highway Administration, said his agency is working to play catch up on initiatives as diverse as rebuilding Baltimore's downed bridge and building electric vehicle chargers.

The first chip in the state's triple-A crown comes ahead of plans to competitively auction $1.2 billion of general obligation bonds next week.

"The financial and engineering industries need to align to get the owners to do what it is they need to do to make sure it's a durable asset," said Maria Lehman, immediate past president of ASCE.

The DOT has made $20.5 billion available to state and local governments, in addition to signing an agreement that expands capacity at the Port of Baltimore following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Supply chain disruptions and economic impacts are raising concerns.

A freighter struck the bridge early Tuesday morning, toppling the 47 year-old structure and creating both a human tragedy and an infrastructure challenge.

Supply is expected to increase in the coming weeks, and there may be more rate-direction volatility, said Kim Olsan, senior vice president of municipal bond trading at FHN Financial.

Robert Poole, a leading expert in the U.S. public-private partnership transportation sector, joins infrastructure reporter Caitlin Devitt to talk about upcoming deals including toll lanes and bridges in the Southeast and high speed rail in the West as well as states that are advancing P3s and action on the federal front. (37 minutes)

Messina, a veteran public finance lawyer, will focus on senior living and life-plan communities.

The deal may represent a measuring stick for triple-A benchmark yields amid market volatility.