News and Information from Bond Buyer

The North Carolina House Transportation Committee on Wednesday passed House Bill 954, which would unwind the state’s $648 million Interstate 77 project with Cintra Infraestructuras SA.

Oil price volatility continues to take a toll on bond ratings in Williston, North Dakota, where S & P Global Ratings lowered its rating on $44.5 million of public safety sales tax revenue bonds.

Former California Public Employees Retirement System chief Federico "Fred" Buenrostro received a prison sentence of four and a half years Tuesday, nearly two years after pleading guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for influencing CalPERS staff.

Pennsylvania competitively sold $990.55 million of unlimited tax general obligation bonds on Wednesday while the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York offered tax-exempts and taxables to fund various tech projects at New York University. In secondary market trading, top-quality municipal bonds finished steady.

The District of Columbia Council this week approved its $13.4 billion fiscal 2017 budget this week, despite Republican House members calling any such move unconstitutional.

Debt-ridden Dowling College on Long Island is shutting its doors after 48 years, the school’s president announced late Tuesday.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and legislative leaders are shifting away from efforts to reach a two-year budget deal to focus instead on a six-month stopgap spending plan.

Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Illinois are among the states with the worst fiscal health and provide examples of problematic strains on state and local finances, according to researchers from George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

Almost $1.2 billion of debt that will finance work on Maryland’s Purple Line P3 rail project is rated at BBB-plus by Fitch.

Most Federal Reserve Districts showed economic growth in April through mid-May, with San Francisco reporting "moderate" growth and six other banks reporting "modest" growth, according to the Beige Book report released Wednesday.

Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen will appear before the Senate Banking Committee on June 21.

New York City's Hudson Yards project has generated less revenue than even the most conservative forecast by the development's planners and city interest support payments will continue in future years, said a budget watchdog.

Candidates to become Puerto Rico’s next governor advocate solutions ranging from a local debt authority, to statehood, to a moratorium on principal payments.

As part of a series analyzing US state and local government pension risks, Moody's Investors Service finds New York State (Aa1 stable) and New York City (Aa2 stable) have kept their unfunded pension liabilities largely in check by increasing contributions as funding needs rise, although pension pressures on budgets have risen.

Assured Guaranty has hired Christopher Jumper as a director in its public finance group, leaving his role of managing the public utility group as a relationship and portfolio manager at U.S. Bank.

Pennsylvania competitively sold $990.55 million of unlimited tax general obligation bonds and retail investors were offered first crack at tax-exempts issued for New York University.

The Fayetteville Public Works Commission will auction $110.8 million of revenue bonds in what is still a rare competitive deal for a North Carolina issuer, one that it accelerated to beat the Fed's expected tightening.

Texas service sector activity "continued to reflect expansion in May," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index slid to 5.8 from 10.6.

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual Construction Spending March: +1.5% April: +0.3% April: -1.8% ISM Manufacturing April: 50.8 May: 50.8 May: 51.3

About 4,884,200 online job postings appeared on leading internet job boards in May, a decrease of 285,800 from April, the Conference Board reported Wednesday.