S&P

Set to be priced by Jefferies on Monday for retail investors and on Tuesday for institutions, New York City's tax-exempt general obligation bond deal is tentatively structured in four series with two subseries.

"The upgrades reflect our view of Louisiana's demonstrated commitment to improving and maintaining reserves above levels that we consider very strong," said S&P.

"The risk of future budgetary pressure is further elevated due to pension contributions falling short of their actuarially determined contribution amounts in each of the past three years and a relatively high level of unfunded pension liabilities," said S&P's Rob Marker.

Inflation and mandate pressures are key factors that moved the outlook lower.

Affordable housing expert Marian Zucker retired on Dec. 1 as head of S&P Global Rating's housing group after over 40 years of working in the public and private sectors of the municipal bond industry.

Labor costs that continue to squeeze operating margins remain the biggest obstacle for the nonprofit healthcare sector.

Friday's S&P upgrade to triple-A follows similar moves by Moody's Investors Service last week and Fitch Ratings last year.

"Higher education is going to be facing continued challenges in the near term," said Tom Kozlik, managing director at Hilltop Securities.

Year-to-date, MIA has seen passengers levels at 113% of pre-COVID 19 levels, boosted by domestic travel, according to a report from BofA Global Research.

The upgrade "reflects a material improvement in the MTA's fiscal outlook, which was largely driven by New York State increasing the maximum rate of the payroll mobility tax," Fitch said.