State of Florida

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.

"It is not surprising that we have witnessed — and continue to witness — a great migration of Americans away from cities and states pursuing failed policies, with Florida serving as a refuge for freedom and sanity," Gov. Ron DeSantis said.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp. reported that private insurance companies assumed 650,399 policies from the state's last-resort carrier in 2023.

At the ceremony, Patronis announced the State Board of Administration plans to make a sizable new purchase of Israel bonds.

The budget proposal includes $455 million for the Florida Division of Bond Finance to redeem, defease or purchase outstanding state bonds.

The budget proposal keeps $16.3 billion in reserves and pays down an additional $455 million in debt. While providing $1.1 billion in tax relief to residents, the plan is $4.6 billion lower than the current fiscal year's budget.

Florida outpaced the national average in overall labor force gains last month while the state's 2.8% unemployment rate was lower than the nation's 3.9% in October.

Lawmakers are looking for ways to slow the rising cost of property insurance, provide additional relief to victims of Hurricane Idalia, bolster efforts against anti-Semitism and support Israel while targeting Iran.

When set against high-profile public finance projects like American Dream and Legacy Cares, Florida's Brightline marks a rare success for investors.

The private equity firms accused the bank of concealing key changes to a credit agreement, in part because it wanted to win future muni bond business from Brightline Holdings.

Miami-Dade County is fighting Florida lawmakers' latest attempts of a takeover of its expressway authority.