News and Information from Bond Buyer

Top-rated municipal bonds ended mixed on Thursday as the last of the week’s bigger sales hit the screens.

Moody's Investors Service has lowered the rating on the State of Illinois' general obligation (GO) bonds to Baa3 from Baa2, amid a prolonged political impasse that has prevented progress on a growing pension deficit and an increasing backlog of unpaid bills

Gas tax, other fees in Oregon’s proposed 10-year road plan would raise $8 billion over 10 years.

Fitch Ratings will now be discounting pension liabilities at a fixed 6% assumed rate of return.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called a special session to continue work on the state budget.

Municipal market participants should not make the mistake of focusing only on the muni exemption in tax reform plans.

New Jersey’s Atlantic County was revised to stable from negative by Moody’s Investors Service.

A tax lawsuit against Scranton could have ramifications throughout Pennsylvania.

Connecticut-based insurance behemoth Aetna confirmed relocation talks with other states.

A California company will use private activity bonds to spin rice straw into a construction product.

Top-rated municipal bonds were mixed at midday as the market was seeing the last of the week’s bigger sales hit the screens.

Illinois took a one notch downgrade from S&P Global Ratings leaving its general obligation debt at BBB-minus.

New York State Assemblyman Robert Rodriguez, D-East Harlem, visits The Bond Buyer and touches on his initiatives pushing for more affordable housing units, Harlem’s economic renaissance with help from tax credits and the public finance background he brought to Albany. Hosted by Andrew Coen.

The municipal bond market is in store for more volume as the last of the week’s bigger sales are set to hit the screens on Thursday.

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló proposed an austere fiscal year 2018 General Fund budget that he said cut operating expenses by 9.1%.

Once-bankrupt Detroit ended fiscal 2016 with a $63 million surplus.

NAST is expected to hire a new executive director as John Provenzano leaves to start a new job as vice president of government relations for Publix Super Markets.

Municipal bonds finished stronger on Wednesday as the bulk of the week’s new issue supply swept into the market.

Kent Hiteshew will leave as director of Treasury's Office of State and Local Finance at the end of the week.

Municipal bond volume dropped for a fourth straight month in May, falling 19.8% from a year earlier as new money deals failed to take up the slack from a plunge in refundings.