Oregon

The Fitch Ratings upgrade to A-plus applies to $80 million in debt issued for the University of Portland in Oregon.

Oregon Treasurer Tobias Read called off a lottery bond sale planned in 2020 after lottery revenues cratered because of pandemic-related business closures.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown called the availability of the surplus "a pivotal moment" for the state.

Between unspent money from last year and excess revenues, Oregon lawmakers have nearly $1 billion of extra money to spend.

Much of the Oregon Health & Science University deal funds a hospital expansion, but it also includes a tender exchange and a privately placed forward refunding.

New money volume in the Far West was up 31.9% to $29.5 billion, while refunding volume rose a more modest 11%.

The question looms as to what point heightened wildfire activity becomes a significant risk for municipal debt.

The bulk of $743 billion in improvements needed to alleviate climate risk and aging infrastructure would be borne by the utilities, a rating agency says.

Alpha Ledger Technologies, which had already done so in its home state of Washington, helped its first Oregon issuer record a municipal loan on a blockchain platform.

Fire scorched two million acres across both states, but muni credits remained relatively unscathed.