News and Information from Bond Buyer

Texas lawmakers have filed almost two dozen bills in an effort to derail a privately funded high-speed rail line.

Troubles at the Oroville Dam in Northern California highlight the need for infrastructure maintenance and investment.

Government

Some analysts see an opportunity in hospital bonds, as the spreads in that sector have continued to widen even as the push to repeal the Affordable Care Act loses steam.

Top-rated municipal bonds ended weaker on Thursday, traders said, as primary issuance slowed down to a trickle.

Rosselló made a request to extend the stay on debt-related lawsuits till the end of the year in his fiscal plan, released Wednesday, in a move that drew objections from bondholder groups.

Amid a two-year budget shortfall of nearly $800 million, Kansas lawmakers must increase funding for public schools, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Bond insurer ACA Financial Guaranty Corp. has gone to federal court seeking the keys to Buena Vista, Virginia’s city hall and compensatory damages.

Trump's address to Congress didn't add any details to the $1 trillion plan released by his presidential campaign in late October.

A changing of the guard is set at the civic arm of a prominent Chicago-based business organization that has worked to influence city and state action on their pension debt.

The University of Missouri’s AA-plus rating carries a stable S&P Global Ratings outlook, up from negative.

Nonprofit health giant Catholic Health Initiatives fell one notch to BBB-plus on S&P Global Ratings' scale Thursday due to a weakened financial profile, analysts said.

Administration officials began deliberating with federal agencies over President Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure initiative after a key lawmaker said funding is still a question.

California efforts to embed more consumer protections into PACE loans are advancing on two tracks.

Atlantic City is set to gain back one of is shuttered casinos with Hard Rock International planning to take over the former Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort.

Upkeep to aging infrastructure is central to New York City’s $89.6 billion, 10-year capital plan, budget chief Dean Fuleihan told City Council members.

S&P Global Ratings said it lowered its long-term and underlying ratings on debt issued for and by Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), Englewood, Colo., to BBB-plus from A-minus and removed the ratings from CreditWatch with negative implications. The outlook is stable.

Gov. Roy Cooper received quick pushback from North Carolina’s GOP-led General Assembly to his first budget, which proposes 4.5% in more state spending in fiscal 2018 as well as expanding Medicaid.

Whistleblower attorney Mark Schwartz sounds off to Bond Buyer northeast regional editor Paul Burton about public finance fiascoes. Schwartz, who represented the Harrisburg City Council in its bankruptcy filing, calls for the registration of municipal securities and discusses conflicts of interest, whistleblower struggles and regulators who are "fat, dumb and happy."

Top-rated municipal bonds were weaker at mid-session, traders said, as primary issuance slowed down to a trickle on Thursday.