News and Information from Bond Buyer

For the third time in four years, long-term municipal bond volume has surpassed the $400 billion mark — this time thanks to a second half surge in taxable issuance that took the market by storm.

The two active municipal bond insurers insured $5 billion more in 2019 than they did in 2018 thanks to a surge of issuance in the fourth quarter.

While these were the percentage growth leaders, education and transportation had the biggest dollar growth.

November's progressive income tax referendum looms large over Gov. J.B. Pritzker's proposed fiscal 2021 budget and the state's long-term fiscal prospects.

Bond yields keep grinding lower ahead of the largest issuance week of 2020, clocking in at $13 billion.

The $5.2 billion Buckeye Tobacco Settlement Authority deal will restructure the debt service schedule, returning the Ohio credit to investment-grade.

Slightly more than half of likely California voters support Proposition 13, according to a poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Kerns is currently deputy director at the Idaho Department of Labor in Boise, Idaho, and will assume her new position March 30.

Companies across the nation reported a decline in business activity in February.

The region's bond issuers sold $113.3 billion of debt in 2019, a 16.8% increase from 2018 fueled largely by a spike in taxable deals.

The market got technically stronger and the new-issue calendar builds.

A coalition of left-leaning lobbying groups are pushing new tax proposals that could raise $3.1 billion of new annual revenue ahead of Gov. Phil Murphy unveiling his annual fiscal plan.

Although not perfect, this is the type of deal that members of Congress envisioned when authoring PROMESA.

Economists say regional surveys show rebound for now, but forecast remains mixed.

He is remembered for the personal touch he brought as a high-ranking executive at one of the nation's oldest mass-transit agencies.

House Speaker Tina Kotek agreed to slow momentum on the state's cap-and-trade bill to prevent a Republican walkout.

Instead the governor intends to bond for $200 million annually to fund transportation infrastructure needs.

Georgia, Wisconsin, Texas and other states have master state contracts with insurers that are available to local governments for cybersecurity.

Luis Maizel is co-founder of LM Capital, an employee-owned minority business in California. Maizel, one of the nation’s few Mexican-born fund and income managers, says he doesn’t see a recession coming. He also looks at U.S. GDP, inflation, interest rates and credit spreads amid the uncertainty of the U.S. election and the coronavirus expansion. Chip Barnett hosts.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker unveiled a $42 billion general fund budget for fiscal 2020.