Southeast

Brightline's luxury train in Florida accounts for half of the Nuveen High Yield Municipal Bond Fund's top 10 positions.

Panelists at the National Federation of Municipal Analysts discussed their experiences dealing with resiliency in the face of budgetary and environmental problems.

The staying power of these laws will depend on a number of factors, including the willingness of states to accept increased borrowing costs or whether to utilize the laws' existing exceptions to obtain a more economically advantageous deal.

Bolstered by key political support, states across the southeast are building toll roads through public-private partnerships to manage congestion.

The bill would bar the state from doing business with companies that apply ESG to investment decisions and/or "boycott" favored industries.

Fitch said its upgrade of Kentucky's IDR "reflects material improvements to Kentucky's fiscal reserves since 2020 as a result of improved budgetary discipline.

"This is a historic accomplishment — setting new records for the largest single-month revenue and personal income tax collections in state history," said Gov. Jim Justice.

The CPI numbers coming in pretty much as expected "was a relief" to the markets, with the bond market rallying after the release, said Luke Bartholomew, senior economist at abrdn.

"This recent escalation of the Disney-DeSantis fight is unnerving, but it doesn't make that fight any more consequential for the municipal market," said Justin Marlowe of the University of Chicago.

"When the rating agencies developed and rolled out their ESG scores, they said their ESG scores would not impact an issuer's credit rating. We are holding them to their word," said Ben Watkins, director of the state Division of Bond Finance.