News and Information from Bond Buyer

Chicago can’t afford much of a delay in outlining a “clear plan” to stabilize its municipal and laborers’ pension funds after the Illinois Supreme Court ruling nixed its 2014 reforms, Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday.

Top-rated municipal bonds were stronger at Tuesday’s close, traders said, as yields were as much as four basis points lower in some maturities.

Some investors holding millions of dollars of bonds in default in the Florida panhandle are upset by what they see as inaction by trustee Bank of Oklahoma Financial and a fired employee with links to accused fraudster Christopher Brogdon.

Allen Park, Mich.'s junk-rated debt's outlook was revised to positive by Standard & Poor's.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority has proposed a $1.4 billion 2017 fiscal budget that spares riders a fare hike.

Former longtime Citigroup banker Mike Heffernan will oversee the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, commonwealth officials announced.

One-third of New York small business owners endure long waits for approvals to open shop, according to city Comptroller Scott Stringer’s red-tape panel.

Private investors in Maryland’s multi-billion dollar Purple Line P3 rail project will finance their share of construction with a federal loan and private-activity bonds.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott vetoed a bill that would have created an independent authority to take over Gainesville Regional Utilities.

Gov. Rick Scott signed the Utility Cost Containment Bond Act into law.

The impact a Chapter 9 bankruptcy would have on Chicago Public Schools and its investors is cloudy, market participants say.

Puerto Rico plans to appeal a federal court decision that will cut government revenue by overturning a imported goods tax increase imposed on Wal-Mart and other retailers.

The Treasury Department auctioned $34 billion of five-year notes, with a 1 1/4% coupon, a 1.335% high yield, a price of 99.590195.

Top-rated municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, traders said, as the first of the week’s new issue slate came to market, led off by a big negotiated deal from Houston schools and a small competitive sale from the state of Michigan.

Caution is the appropriate step for the Federal Open Market Committee to take when it comes to raising rates, Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet L. Yellen said Tuesday.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $45 billion of four-week bills at a 0.200% high yield, a price of 99.984444.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $20 billion of 364-day bills at a 0.660% high yield, a price of 99.332667.

If the decline in Cook County’s population continues, it will make solutions to Chicago’s and Illinois’s fiscal problems more difficult, especially if the decline in population is driven by a desire to escape the tax burden.

Texas service sector activity “continued to reflect expansion in March,” according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index slipped to 6.4 from 9.7.

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual Consumer Confidence Feb.: 94.0 March: 94.0 March: 96.2