News and Information from Bond Buyer

The many sectors and subsectors of municipal bonds experienced widely varied rates of growth or decline in 2015.

After 16 consecutive quarters of positive tax receipts received by state and local governments, municipal experts said it's no surprise that the need for short-term municipal note issuance has been steadily declining in recent years.

Municipal bond insurance continued its upward climb in 2015, closing the year with 6.26% market penetration, up from 5.56% the year prior.

Long-term municipal bond volume ended the year with the highest yearly issuance since 2010, thanks in large part to a blistering first half of the year that saw enormous refunding volume as issuers rushed to market to take advantage of near-record-low interest rates.

Government

The head of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco gave attendees of a Town Hall Los Angeles event a glimpse into what the Fed might announce at its March meeting.

The Nelson County Public Library District in Kentucky plans to competitively price $1.6 million of general obligation refunding bonds on Tuesday.

The leader of a Puerto Rico corruption conspiracy pled guilty Thursday.

Challenges remain despite initial favorable reaction to a proposal to establish guidance for municipal securities dealers calculating prevailing market price and compensation in principal transactions.

Jefferson County, Ala.'s bankruptcy appeal is expected to be argued before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta the week of May 16.

The House will hold two simultaneous hearings about Puerto Rico on Feb. 25 before legislators are expected to begin a drafting process for a legislative solution for the commonwealth.

North Dakota lost its Standard & Poor's triple-A rating because of the impact of oil price volatility on the state's economy.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration panel in San Juan ordered UBS AG to pay an investor about $1.45 million in compensation for losses suffered by investments in its Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds.

The Illinois Board of Education has opened an investigation of Chicago school finances, the latest sign tensions between Chicago Public Schools and Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Moody's downgrades three struggling Pennsylvania school districts and withdraws their enhanced ratings based on pre-default intercept programs.

Issuers in the Northeast sold $102.9 billion of municipal bonds in 2015, almost 9% above the previous year's volume.

Top quality municipal bonds were mostly unchanged at mid-session, traders said, as the big New York City GO deal was offered to retail investors.

Kansas lawmakers sent a $16.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year to Gov. Sam Brownback that includes new limits on bonds for tourist-related developments and out-of-state conduit issuers for universities.

With revenue estimates falling, New Mexico lawmakers settled on a $6.2 billion budget that raids some state agency accounts to keep spending level with last year.

A nonprofit land bank could help New York City develop affordable housing units on 1,100 vacant properties, said city Comptroller Scott Stringer.