News and Information from Bond Buyer

An unsealed whistleblower lawsuit accuses eight Wall Street and regional banks and broker-dealers that served as remarketing agents of fraud and collusion in resetting rates for variable rate demand obligations issued by state and local issuers in Illinois.

The Big Apple should be prepared to weather a big downturn, so the City Council is urging the mayor to put additional reserves into his budget proposal.

A New Jersey lawmaker is seeking to cancel the state’s $3.2 billion tobacco refunding bond deal, saying the transaction was unconstitutional.

The old saw that rising rates are bad for bonds may not really be the case, one new report says.

Nearly 60% of Los Angeles County's $30.8 billion budget for fiscal 2019 will go for health and public assistance programs.

Failure at the ballot may require Omaha Public Schools to lean more on its general fund dollars for repairs needed to keep schools fully operational.

Eleven states and five cities will also receive a share of the CDBG disaster grants, with the biggest amount of $4.7 billion going to Texas for the damage caused by Hurricane Harvey.

The Branson Airport settlement resolves bond claims and provides cash operators say is needed to stay afloat.

Illinois lawmakers returned to work this week with less than two months to settle on a budget.

Despite the previous technical difficulties of supply and demand, municipals are poised for a potentially stronger second quarter, according to Jeffrey Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer & Co.

Restructuring expert Michael Imber of EisnerAmper explains how in-kind real-estate asset contributions could curb the state's steep unfunded liability. Paul Burton and Chip Barnett host.

Small business optimism retreated from its 35-year high in February, but remains among the highest in survey history, the National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday.

The MSRB said the paper was prompted in part by the tax law's prohibition on advance refundings and the fact that interest rate swap rules intersect with the board's rules for municipal advisors.

Though the legal setback is "harmful" to the Chicago Park District's plan to increase pension funding, it doesn't cause a budgetary crisis, S&P said.

Traders and muni professionals said it was a typical light Monday in the municipal market — with favorable market technicals mixed with some underlying concern on the political front.

People involved in the $3.5 billion sale received notices that there would be no enforcement action.

For the first time in nearly 30 years, Oklahoma has raised taxes to deal with a teachers strike, a credit positive step, says Moody's Investors Service.

Morgan Stanley will run the books on several negotiated deals that are part of about $360 million in local government borrowing planned.

The Legislature's budget failed to provide debt service on some bonds, decimated reserves, and lacked full funding for core services, Gov. Matt Bevin said.

San Diego's regional transportation agency agreed to pay legal fees ending a long-running legal battle with environmental groups.