News and Information from Bond Buyer

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today it lowered its rating on Chicago's general obligation (GO) bonds to 'BBB+' from 'A-' and removed it from CreditWatch.

With no let-up in tensions over a budget impasse, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner told House Speaker Michael Madigan Wednesday to get behind his reintroduced policy and governance reforms or push through a tax hike on his own choosing.

Some municipal bond experts in Washington were pleased to see that the reports from Senate Finance Committee’s tax reform working groups, released Wednesday, did not recommend that municipal bonds be taxed.

The House Judiciary Committee is unlikely to pass legislation that would give Puerto Rican public municipalities and utilities the ability to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9, committee chair Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., said in a Wednesday statement.

Months after the original private owner of the publicly owned toll road went bankrupt, the new owner, Australian fund manager fund IFM Investors, is set to complete the financing of its takeover bid next week.

For the first time in nearly three decades, Texas will not need to issue tax and revenue anticipation notes to cover its short-term cash-flow needs, according to state Comptroller Glenn Hegar.

Move America Bonds should be more attractive to many members of Congress than Build America Bonds, Sen. Ron Wyden said.

Prices of top-rated municipal bonds closed flat to slightly firmer on Wednesday, traders said, with yields steady to as much as three basis points lower.

The Miss America Pageant will return to Atlantic City, N.J. in September and the holder of the crown is doing her part to promote the seaside city as it struggles to gain financial traction.

Revenues generated from an overhaul of the corporate tax code could fund highways, Senate report says.

Chicago and unions challenging its overhaul of the municipal and laborers’ pension funds square off in court Thursday with the city’s efforts to stabilize its rocky fiscal foundation at stake.

The Treasury Department auctioned $21 billion of 9-year 10-month notes with a 2 1/8% coupon at a 2.225% high yield, a price of 99.118448.

Puerto Rico plans to present its case for restructuring its debt in New York City on Monday.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer wants the IRS and other law enforcement to investigate what he called lavish, inappropriate spending by Queens Library executives.

In the final month of the 2015 fiscal year, Kansas took in $22 million less in revenue than expected, leaving the state $33 million below projections for the 12-month period, officials said.

Providence Health & Services received a Fitch Ratings affirmation at AA ahead of plans to price two series totaling $356 million.

Jeffery Pearson has been appointed deputy chair and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management.

Prices of top-rated municipal bonds were mixed at mid-session, traders said, with yields on some maturities steady to one basis point higher. In the equities sector, the New York Stock Exchange suffered technical problems and shut down trading.

Conditions in Jefferson County, Ala. are improving after its bankruptcy exit and the county is preparing for its first municipal bond market appearance since its 2013 exit from bankruptcy, said County Commission President Jimmie Stephens.

Gov. Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania lawmakers remained stalemated over how to fund a $30.2 billion budget for fiscal 2016.