Alaska should invest the budget surpluses it predicts from high oil prices into funds that will be used for future education, transportation, alternative energy, and employee pension costs, Gov. Sarah Palin said Wednesday. The state government’s general fund revenues come largely from oil taxes, which are expected to generate billions of dollars in surpluses because of prices in the range of $90 to $100 per barrel. According to Palin, over the next two years Alaska should: invest $2.6 billion in the education fund for public education in the future; create a $1 billion fund, the earnings of which would be used for future transportation infrastructure; deposit $450 million into the state’s Teachers’ Retirement System, to reduce its unfunded liability; create a $250 million alternative energy fund; and pump $379 million into the state’s constitutional budget reserve, a fund to help the state’s government through lean financial years. Palin will release her operating and capital budget proposals for fiscal 2009 next week.
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The county commission said it hopes to regain Moody's ratings this fall.
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Market participants launched the largest lobbying effort in recent memory to protect municipal bonds and got what they wanted as the tax-exemption survived.
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UST yields rose across the curve in response to the employment report with the two-year rising nearly 10 basis points while municipals largely ignored the moves and ratios fell as a result.
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Oregon Department of Transportation leaders said they will begin layoffs Monday after lawmakers adjourned without passing a transportation funding bill.
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"If you are seeking the services of a municipal advisor, it would be helpful to use the term municipal advisor in your RFP/Qs," said Sanchez, director of the SEC's Office of Municipal Securities.
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The growth of the muni market comes as issuance surges, with the first half of the year seeing $280.64 billion of supply, up 14.3% year-over-year, according to LSEG.
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