News and Information from Bond Buyer

Ray Hutchison, senior bond counsel at Bracewell & Giuliani, died in Dallas, where he was instrumental in landmark projects such as Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

The National Association of Local Housing Finance Authorities has told House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp in a letter that it opposes the provisions in his tax-reform plan that eliminate tools used to finance affordable homeownership and rental housing.

A new study projects that Puerto Rico could receive billions of additional federal dollars if it became a state, information that some observers said could inject new life into the statehood debate on the financially troubled island.

Oconee Regional Medical Center's failure to resolve covenant violations prompted Standard & Poor's to cut the Georgia hospital operator's ratings to CCC from B.

Major U. S. corporations are calling on Congress to increase transportation infrastructure funding in the next highway bill.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it raised its rating on the former Bexar Metropolitan Water District (Bexar Met), Texas' waterworks system revenue debt to A-plus from A.

The arrest of Mayor Patrick Cannon may prompt state lawmakers to strengthen a law removing Charlotte Douglas International Airport from the city's control.

Puerto Rico's Economic Activity Index in February was unchanged from the January value.

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth completed distinct more municipal bond transactions in California than any other law firm in 2013 according to Thomson Reuters.

The municipal market got off to a slow start as munis slipped on a quieter than normal Monday.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were lower, as the three-months incurred a 0.045% high rate, down from 0.050% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.065% high rate, down from 0.075% the week before.

The municipal market opened slowly on Monday as yields adjust from investors' knee-jerk reaction to the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's interest rate spook, which the market interpreted as moving the possibility of a rate hike up six months in 2015.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $25 billion of four-week discount bills Tuesday.

A new Austin medical school will share in the proceeds of a $285 million revenue bond issue from the University of Texas System.

Texas factory activity, as measured by the production index, "increased for the eleventh month in a row in March," according to the monthly business activity survey conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, released Monday.

The Federal Reserve's "extraordinary commitment" to help the U.S. recover from the Great Recession will be needed "for some time to come," Fed Chair Janet Yellen reiterated Monday.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer dropped to 55.9 in March from 59.8 in February, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Monday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business rose to 56.0 in March from 48.6 in February, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Monday.

The Midwest Economy Index fell to negative 0.03 in February from positive 0.32 in January, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported Monday.