News and Information from Bond Buyer

Volume in the Southeast was up 46% in 2024, led by Florida, where municipal bond sales more than doubled to $27.49 billion.

It has been a bit of a "heavy start" to the year for issuance, said Jeff Devine, a municipal research analyst at GW&K.

Illinois' Annual Comprehensive Financial Report for fiscal year 2023 recently passed the 600-day mark and is threatening to break California's lateness record.

The rating agency said the one-notch downgrade, which comes ahead of a bond sale, was due to weaker operating performance and liquidity.

Legislation to continue a sales tax and revenue bond program until July 1, 2028, and allow its use for mall redevelopment projects, passed the Senate.

The rating agency cited the state's ample reserves, robust natural resource base and critical role in U.S. strategic interests.

The House now needs to negotiate a final budget resolution with the Senate, whose leaders have said they want to make the TCJA permanent.

Midwest bond sale volume peaked in the third quarter of 2024.

The Federal government's long-term budget challenges could mean dramatic changes for hospitals and health systems nationwide, derailing the post-COVID credit recovery that helped turn the healthcare sector into the fastest-growing segment of the municipal market in 2024.

Muni prices continue to "show relative resilience" despite a nearly record pace of issuance, said Matt Fabian, a partner at Municipal Market Analytics.

They say the reasons the court had given to continue the stay are no longer valid.

Bond lawyers want to make sure their voices are heard as Congress moves toward critical votes on tax policy.

The public finance industry is addressing cyber threats, which became clearer with last year's hack of White Lake Township's bond closing.

Issuers in the eight-state region sold $103.3 billion of bonds last year, with Texas deals accounting for $68.13 billion of the debt.

Last week, "there was no meaningful economic data to digest and yields were slightly lower," said Daryl Clements, a portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein.

The unpredictable nature of legislating leads most to holding off on disclosure changes until a bill becomes a law.

Native American Tribes are working their way through Congressional committees looking for support on legislation that would allow the tribes to issue municipal bonds using the same rules as state governments.

The muni market produced $512.7 billion of debt issuance in 2024, up 33.1% from $385.1 billion in 2023, according to LSEG data. This surpasses the previous record of $484.6 billion in 2020 by almost $30 billion.

In total, municipal bond insurers wrapped $41.09 billion of debt in 2024, an increase from the $35.38 billion insured in 2023, according to LSEG data.

The 116% surge in healthcare bond sales from 2023 marked "a splash back from depressed issuance the few years prior," said Matt Fabian, partner at Municipal Market Analytics.