Organization Root Tag

The $33 billion funding gap in the authority's five-year capital plan is too big, the Senate majority leader and Assembly speaker said in a rejection letter.

The Federal Open Market Committee cut the fed funds target again in December but signaled fewer cuts in 2025. There was some dissent. The markets are watching to see if the Federal Reserve pauses its easing cycle in January. Brian Rehling, head of global fixed-income strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, recaps and parses the previous day's FOMC meeting and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference.

Six Texas cities sued the state comptroller over a rule that altered where sales taxes would be collected on certain online purchases.

Analysts are unsure what the Federal Open Market Committee will do with monetary policy in 2025. The panel projects two rate cuts, but some analysts expect more, and others see fewer.

Moody's Ratings said the 2025 budget that passed Chicago's City Council this month won't materially alter the credit profile of the city, which it rates Baa3.

Munis "continued their slide" last week as yields rose an average of 23 basis points across the curve as the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the Fed will take a "more cautious approach" on interest rate cuts next year, said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

The ratings agency cited strong and growing activity and favorable economic trends in the region.

Moody's upgraded Minneapolis to Aaa. The outlook is stable, reflecting an expectation that a strong financial profile will help absorb cost pressures.

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved the firing of Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez late Friday during a heated special meeting.

The budgeting constraints transformed the state's finances and bond ratings. But critics say the policy's downsides include the stifling of needed investments. 

The bank's termination of its membership in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance ended a state review that could have led to a ban for governmental contracts.

"Munis are grappling with a storm of uncertainty," said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.

It's hard enough convincing local governments to spend money on cyber insurance that covers ransomware attacks, said Omid Rahmani, public finance cybersecurity lead at Fitch Ratings. The new and very specific threat of a hacked financing process, is "absolutely" underappreciated by the public finance industry.

As the market prepares for 2025, there's a lot of uncertainty around what the new administration will mean for the macroeconomic environment and interest rates, the latter of which may be impacted by policy around the deficit, said Steve Shutz, portfolio manager and director of tax-exempt fixed income at Brown Advisory.

Robert McDermott has joined the firm as a director.

A spike in inflationary costs means a tough road ahead for Washington lawmakers as they take up the budget in the new year.

Ohio legislators plan to vote Wednesday on a resolution that would put a $2.5 billion general obligation bond measure on statewide ballots May 6.

Analysts warn the many one-time measures in the budget Mayor Brandon Johnson narrowly got through City Council will make the 2026 budget even harder.

With investors now anticipating Wednesday's expected rate cut may be the last one for a while, "an overall bullish paradigm has been seriously weakened," noted Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics, Inc.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's finance committee approved $9 billion of bonds, some backed by new revenue sources.