Muni Think

Tennessee, Florida, Arkansas, and Michigan have shown significant improvement in economic health over the past year, while some stronger states have been underperforming.

What's the appeal of the tax-credit alternative? It guarantees that a holder will receive full value as long as he has a matching tax liability. That's true even if the issuing State is in a financial crisis and can't pay its bondholders.

Municipalities buy insurance to obtain a higher credit rating for a bond issue and a commensurately lower borrowing cost. The savings arise from a lower coupon or, if the coupon is fixed, a higher price. But how can municipalities make sure that bond insurance makes economic sense for them? The answer is to pay close attention to the costs and benefits.

No single individual played a more critical role in defending the authority of cities, counties, and states to issue state and municipal debt.

As we await the final shoe to drop with regard to the SEC's MCDC initiative, the municipal market may be at a turning point in terms of disclosure.

States like Colorado will continue to forego revenue, as well as the opportunity to borrow against that revenue in the bond market, until the cannabis industry gains access to the banking system.

Our legislation would preserve money market funds as a source of liquidity and capital for public the infrastructure needs of our citizens.

The interest rate environment can have a big effect on issuers' debt management programs. Here’s how to incorporate interest rates prudently to ensure flexibility and long-term sustainability.

Worst case, to-maturity debt service calculations that ignore the issuer's optional redemption feature lead to flatly wrong calculations for critical items like expected capital cost, refunding savings, and simple, basic principal and interest payments.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s infrastructure proposals set the state up for long-term economic competitiveness.