News and Information from Bond Buyer

Fitch Ratings has downgraded the Regional Transportation District of Colorado's debt, maintaining a negative outlook on RTD’s certificates of participation.

Bankers and dealers told the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board that a blanket ban on principal transactions by firms acting as municipal advisors is unworkable, but non-dealer MAs disagreed in comments filed Monday.

California State Controller John Chiang released his monthly cash update for February, showing the state's revenues came in above projections.

RBC Capital Markets has hired Stratford Shields -- a longtime Morgan Stanley banker and a former head of its public finance business -- to lead its Midwestern municipal banking efforts.

An Alabama Senate bill passed March 6 would authorize $100 million of bonds to finance digital textbooks for the state's public school teachers and children.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Monday that the financial emergency in Benton Harbor is officially resolved and the city is leaving emergency management.

Ohio is selling $300 million of general obligation bonds and Gov. John Kasich is expected to unveil a new budget bill that features an income-tax cut on Tuesday

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has formed a work group to suggest ideas to curb the island's untaxed informal economy, emigration and low labor participation rate.

Washington State lawmakers are working to pass a bill that would authorize lottery-backed bonds to fund school construction projects throughout the state.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday announced an initiative to encourage issuers and underwriters of municipal securities to self-report certain violations of the federal securities laws rather than wait for their violations to be detected.

The market continued to move at a lethargic pace Monday afternoon as yields remained unchanged.

Connecticut will begin a two-day retail period Tuesday for its $400 million general obligation bond sale,which will include $100 million of SIFMA index bonds.

The SEC and former JPMorgan bankers asked a federal court not to exclude experts in the pay-to-play suit involving Jefferson County, Ala.'s sewer deals.

Puerto Rico may offer bonds maturing in 2035 at a yield from 8.625% to 8.875%, according to preliminary pricing information obtained from underwriters working on the deal, which is set to finalize pricing Tuesday. The $3 billion of bonds come with a coupon of 8%, according to the document, obtained by The Bond Buyer.

Construction associations and labor unions have formed a grassroots coalition to pressure Congress for additional investment in transportation infrastructure.

Electric sales have fallen in recent years, forcing utilities to deal with new realities.

The market opened quietly on Monday as it prepared the biggest week of issuance so far this year, with upward of $11 billion predicted by Ipreo and The Bond Buyer.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were unchanged, as the three-months incurred a 0.050% high rate, unchanged from 0.050% the prior week, and the six-months incurred a 0.080% high rate, unchanged from 0.080% the week before.

The Treasury Department said Monday it will sell $35 billion of four-week discount bills Tuesday.