News and Information from Bond Buyer

Congress should pass a short-term transportation bill by mid-March so that the construction season can be as robust as possible, the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Thursday.

A rate hike could come in the summer or fall, according to Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams.

The latest report by the New York City Panel on Climate Change could resonate well beyond the five boroughs, says storm financing expert Alan Rubin.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it lowered its rating on the Board of Governors of the University of North Carolina's general revenue bonds, issued for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), one notch to A-plus from AA-minus.

The Federal Reserve is working to identify municipal securities that could be treated as high-quality liquid assets under rules requiring banks to maintain liquidity coverage ratios, Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen told members of a House committee.

California Treasurer John Chiang called Fitch's upgrade of California's credit rating a validation, but also a caution to maintain fiscal discipline.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it corrected by raising its underlying rating (SPUR) on Jefferson County, Ala.'s series 2000 limited obligation school warrants, issued for and supported by Jefferson County Board of Education, 13 notches to A-plus from CCC.

Moody's Investors Service said it has assigned Aa3 to Queen Creek Unified School District No. 95 (Maricopa County), Ariz.'s $31.92 million school improvement bonds, Projects of 2010 and 2014, Series 2015, and $7.99 million refunding bonds, Series 2015.

Standard & Poor's is warning that Chicago's "surprise" mayoral runoff could delay the city's response to a looming $550 million to $600 million hike in its public safety pension payments.

Municipal bond sales in the Far West were down slightly in 2014 as new money issuance slowed down across much of the region.

Prices of top-shelf municipal bonds were slightly stronger at mid-session in secondary trading, traders said, with yields on some maturities slipping by as much as one basis point.

The Treasury Department said it will auction $25 billion year bills on March 3.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $26 billion 91-day bills and $26 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

Doubts as to the quality or effectiveness of Indiana's intercept program are misplaced.

Manufacturing activity in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's region "rose just slightly from the previous month, but producers expected activity to pick up moderately in the months ahead" in February, according to the bank's monthly manufacturing survey, released Thursday.

Fitch Ratings said it upgraded the rating on $76.4 billion in outstanding general obligation bonds of the state of California to A-plus from A.

The institutional pricing of the New York City Transitional Finance Authority's $700 million deal is scheduled for Thursday, one of the last big deals coming to market this week.

Indicator Last Report Forecast Actual CPI Dec.: -0.3% Jan.: -0.6% Jan.: -0.7% CPI Core Dec.: +0.1% Jan.: +0.1% Jan.: +0.2% Durable Goods Dec.: -3.7% Jan.: +1.9% Jan.: +2.8% Durable Goods ex-trans Dec.: -0.9% Jan.: +0.5% Jan.: +0.3% Initial Jobless Claims 2/14: 282,000 2/21: 290,000 2/21: 313,000 Continuing Claims 2/7: 2.422M 2/14: 2.385M 2/14: 2.401M

U.S. durable goods orders climbed 2.8% in January, while excluding transportation orders grew 0.3%, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.