News and Information from Bond Buyer

Week Of March 7 Issuer St Description Amount

ALABAMA

ARKANSAS

A bribery investigation of bond-funded projects in the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District has led to indictments of a construction manager, a school board member and a commissioner for the city of Richmond, Texas.

Government

The Senate Banking Committee has scheduled a hearing on March 15 to consider Lisa Fairfax and Hester Peirce, President Obama’s two nominees to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The biggest municipal bond deal of the year came to market from California on Tuesday, with buyer demand driving the issuer to upsize the issue by about $600 million to $2.9 billion. In secondary trading, top quality municipal bonds finished stronger, traders said, with yields on some maturities falling by as much as four basis points.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association wants municipal securities transactions to be closed out within 15 days of settlement, rather than the 30 days proposed by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

New York MTA intends to add more than 2,000 state-of-the-art buses to its transportation fleet over five years at a $1.3 billion cost, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Los Angeles World Airports needs to reform its bidding process to move forward on its multi-billion dollar efforts to modernize Los Angeles International Airport, according to a city controller's audit.

In a case that could prove pivotal to New Jersey’s future credit rating, the state’s Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 14 to determine if annual cost of living adjustments to retirees' pension benefits need to be restored.

Organizers of a muni conference that features academics, market practitioners, public officials and regulations are rebranding the event and moving it from Boston to Washington.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday that lawmakers had failed to make the budget cuts to close this year’s deficit.

From a threatened teacher strike to an escalating state-level attack on its governance and borrowing powers, the barrage of bad news has not let up for junk-rated Chicago Public Schools.

Nebraska lawmakers and governor agree on a proposed $450 million infrastructure bank financed with gas tax revenues.

Richard Kolman, a municipal finance veteran who most recently built U.S. Bank's muni underwriting group from scratch, is taking some time off from the industry.

With one month to go until opening day, Standard & Poor’s Rating Services on Friday raised its underlying rating on the District of Columbia’s baseball park revenue bonds to BBB+ from BBB.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $24 billion of three-year notes with a 1% coupon at a 1.039% yield, a price of 99.885098.

Top quality municipal bonds were stronger at mid-session, traders said, with yields on some maturities falling by as much as four basis points.

Squire Patton Boggs promoted public finance tax lawyer John W. “Johnny” Hutchinson to partner, the firm announced on Tuesday.