News and Information from Bond Buyer

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, dropped four basis points to 3.94% from 3.98% in the previous week.

Prices of top quality municipal bonds closed unchanged on Thursday, according to traders, as the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority increased the size of its sale for the institutional pricing.

Flint and Genesee County will remain in a state of emergency until Aug. 14 under a four month extension granted by Michigan lawmakers on Wednesday.

Carmel, Ind., is prepping a $224 million sale that would mark the first issue of bonds by the city’s recently established bond bank.

With Illinois’ public higher education schools facing downgrades and accreditation risks, Gov. Bruce Rauner and the legislature’s Democratic majority remain at loggerheads over how to free up their funding amid the ongoing budget impasse.

House Republican leaders plan to hold a policy meeting Friday morning with their members on pending legislation for Puerto Rico to try to gain more support for it.

The long-stalled bipartisan energy modernization bill is expected to move forward in the Senate without an amendment that would have provided Flint, Mich. with $220 million to address its ongoing water crisis.

Louisiana’s fiscal problems require that the state alter how it prioritizes capital outlay projects, particularly those financed with state bonds, said Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne.

Puerto Rico’s economy has been worse that reported, according to the most widely cited measure of its economic activity.

Members of a House panel rebuffed a request from WMATA for $300 million per year of additional federal funding.

A spike in the SIFMA municipal swap index is making the short-end of the municipal bond yield curve unusually attractive.

A plan to reduce Oklahoma’s $1.3 billion budget shortfall would include $500 million of bonds for highway projects under a plan announced by Gov. Mary Fallin.

The Treasury Department Thursday auctioned $12 billion of 29-year 10-month bonds with a 2.50% coupon at a 2.596% high yield, a price of 98.011430.

In parallel actions on Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. district attorney for the Southern District of New York filed civil and criminal charges against Ramapo, N.Y., officials for misleading investors in connection with bonds issued to finance a minor league baseball stadium.

As Orange County, Calif., approaches the end of debt service payments related to its 1994 bankruptcy, it is lining up its first long term debt sale in a decade.

Prices of top quality municipal bonds were steady to stronger at mid-session, according to traders, as the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s upsized $750 million deal was priced for institutions.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $16 billion five-year inflation-indexed bonds on Thursday, April 21.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $28 billion 91-day bills and $24 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, floated an alternative proposal aimed at saving Atlantic City from insolvency that sets additional benchmarks for the distressed gambling hub before his previously-proposed state intervention would take effect.

Municipal bond traders are looking to see the last of the week’s supply come to market on Thursday. The institutional pricing of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority deal is set to hit the screens.