News and Information from Bond Buyer

Government

New Jersey’s top elected officials Tuesday announced a deal with Atlantic City Mayor Donald Guardian to allow increased state intervention to keep the struggling city out of bankruptcy.

Illinois’ rising bill backlog if left unchecked could pressure the state’s already battered credit rating, Moody’s Investors Service warns in a new commentary.

Kansas City, Missouri heads into the market with a nearly $200 million new money and refunding sanitary- sewer system revenue deal Wednesday as the city chips away at needed infrastructure upgrades and its $4.5 billion overflow control program.

Muni yields were unchanged Tuesday as deals from issuers in Virginia, California, Nebraska and New York hit the market ahead of most anticipated deal so far this year – the $875 million issue from the Chicago Board of Education.

Two Republican state committees that challenged the constitutionality of a Securities and Exchange Commission political contributions rule are insisting the SEC reject a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to extend pay-to-play prohibitions to municipal advisors.

John Kennedy, the Pelican state's long-time treasurer, announced on his blog Tuesday that he will run for the seat being vacated by U.S. Sen. David Vitter, R-La.

Richard Ravitch, James Spiotto and Lois Scott are among the municipal leaders who've started an advocacy group to help local governments face what it describes as the "uncertain future" of public pension plans.

The Highway Trust Fund will remain solvent through 2020 with a $70 billion general fund transfer but the revenue shortfall won’t go away, CBO said.

The only intermodal freight facility to ever take advantage of a special 11-year-old federal private activity bond program is back for a third round of financing.

New York City’s asset management bureau should bolster its due diligence and lessen dependence on senior management, said city Comptroller Scott Stringer.

Puerto Rico's employment reached the highest level since January 2013.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $26 billion of two-year notes with a 3/4% coupon at a 0.860% yield, a price of 99.782632.

Almost 50% of market participants at The Bond Buyer's 2016 National Outlook Conference believe the Federal Reserve will hike rates only twice in 2016, according to a live market survey. Muni Market issuance was also see moving along at a fast pace this year.

The municipal bond market's $5.42 billion new issue slate has been kicked-started Tuesday by the competitive sale from a Virginia issuer and a negotiated deal out of a New York City suburb.

While lower oil prices are likely to have a stimulative effect on the national economy, we are wary of impacts on the finances of local credits in the Oil Patch.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $55 billion of four-week bills at a 0.295% high yield, a price of 99.977056.

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual Consumer Confidence Dec.: 96.3 Jan.: 96.5 Jan.: 98.1

Texas service sector activity "continued to reflect expansion in January," according to business executives responding to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, as the revenue index slipped to 10.0 from 15.2.

Service sector activity "strengthened in January," according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond service-sector activity survey, released Tuesday.