Southwest

Municipal bond underwriters for Texas deals now have until Dec. 16 to comply with changes to the agreements and to their standing letters of compliance with two state laws banning contracts with companies that "boycott" or "discriminate" against the fossil fuel or firearm industries.

Recommendations from an actuary on the city's police and fire pensions come amid a rising unfunded liability and uncertainty over the use of pension bonds.

The amount of unspent funding for state and local capital projects is at a historically high $5 billion as projects struggle with rising construction costs.

The issuer said it pans to discuss the matter with the IRS.

The top five bond financings have an average dollar volume of more than $1 billion.

Flush with bond authorization from the Nov. 7 election, officials are formulating issuance plans, while Colorado's governor called lawmakers back to session after a property tax cut measure was defeated by voters.

A group of taxpayers argue that a property tax increase approved by Austin voters in 2020 for light rail cannot be used to support bonds.

A subpoena sent to the Oklahoma Corporation Commission this week seeks communications related to 2021's Winter Storm Uri and nearly $3 billion of utility securitizations that priced in 2022.

An increase in tax collections helped fuel the flow of billions of excess dollars into the state's previous budget, although growth in key sales tax revenue has slowed.

Attorney General Ken Paxton put several big banks under a review last month, raising concerns more municipal bond underwriters could be driven out of the state.