State of Florida

As the largest private-activity bond issuance and first investment-grade debt for American high-speed rail, this transaction, which also won Deal of the Year in the Innovative Financing category, opens new avenues for large-scale infrastructure projects in a traditionally underserved financing sector.

The agency cited the closeness of the entities to Florida's government.

Moody's believes Florida will sell bonds to help replenish the CAT fund this spring.

In the long run, Helene and Milton may further drive already rising property insurance costs, while in the short-term S&P placed three utilities on CreditWatch.

Florida will use its own cash, not from a refunding bond, to buy up to $500 million of bonds tendered.

Local governments that were in Hurricane Milton's path, however, will face significant credit challenges, Moody's said.

Florida's Aaa credit is a factor in all the upgrades, the rating agency said.

Florida's official outlook indicates the state government faces a $10 billion deficit by mid-2028 without major tax and spending changes.

A coalition of metropolitan planning organizations and transportation officials along the Interstate-4 corridor approved a resolution supporting further development.

The deal, originally planned at $1.5 billion in three maturities, was downsized and restructured and then restructured again into one 10-year bullet maturity.

As anti-Israel protests grow at universities across the United States amid a rising tide of anti-Semitic incidents, state and local governments are buying Israel bonds in a show of financial and moral support.

The finance team is "marketing slices of risk" to raise money to refinance its debt, investors said.

"We were originally thinking that we would offer five-, seven- and 10-year maturities, with $500 million in each tranche. But we decided today to just offer 5s and 10s — $500 million of five-year bonds and $1 billion of 10-year bonds," said Ben Watkins, Director of Florida's Bond Division.

Since war broke out on Oct. 7 between Israel and Hamas, over $1.64 billion of Israel bonds have been sold to more than 35 U.S. states, counties, cities and municipalities.

Since Gov. Ron DeSantis took office in 2019, Florida has paid down $5.3 billion of state debt, or about 25% of the Sunshine State's total debt.

The bill allows local governments to bypass public bidding and notice requirements in current P3 law.

Analysts say states can avoid short-term issues as a result of strong reserves but some may face challenges over the longer term.

U.S. DOT Deputy Secretary Polly Trottenberg traveled to Miami-Dade County to highlight the $27 million of funding provided under the bipartisan infrastructure law to Miami International Airport's improvement projects.

"We're going to be opportunistic based on what the market conditions are and what the interest rate environment is," said Ben Watkins, director of the Florida Division of Bond Finance. "We like to be like Boy Scouts — we always want to be prepared."

Tourism raised $35.2 billion in taxes in 2022, consisting of $18.9 billion in federal tax revenue, $8.1 billion in state tax revenue and $8.2 billion in local tax receipts, according to a report.