News and Information from Bond Buyer

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it has raised its rating on Oklahoma Water Resources Board's state loan program revenue bonds to AAA from AA-plus.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the New York Thruway Authority's senior lien bonds to A2 from A1.

Decatur County, Ga.'s general obligation debt has been downgraded to A-minus from A-plus by Standard & Poor's.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has released a new online toolkit to help preparers and auditors of state and local government pension plans implement new accounting and financial reporting standards.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission filed motions arguing it met the burden of proof necessary to move forward with securities fraud allegations against Miami and its former budget director.

With the help of the General Assembly and local support, the Virginia Retirement System has backed plans to embark on a new asset management journey to be called Project Frontier, a internal money management subsidiary, Investment Management Mandate Pipeline reports. Project Frontier, an effort to leverage a portion of the VRS’ internal investment expertise into asset management for other government funds, asked the General Assembly last month to assist in drafting a bill for the measure.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it raised its rating on Eastham, Mass.'s general obligation bonds to AAA from AA.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal advisor registration rule will appear in the Federal Register Nov. 12, starting the 60-day countdown until it becomes effective Jan. 13.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it raised its long-term rating and underlying ratings on Winthrop, Maine's general obligation (GO) bonds to AA-minus from A-plus.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed regulations on reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act, Employee Benefit News reports. The regulations, released on Sept. 9, address two separate ACA reporting requirements: one relating to the individual mandate and the other relating to the employer mandate. Failure to comply could result in tax penalties unless the failure is due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect.

Michigan will pay 0.40% in interest for $30 million of two-year taxable general obligation bonds that the state sold in a competitive sale last week.

Cook County, Ill., approved a new $3.2 billion spending plan for fiscal 2014 that raises no taxes and relies on federal aid under the new health care law to offset chronic shortfalls in its massive health system.

Scranton., Pa., risks default as it faces a $20 million budget gap and a further $28 million to settle a pension award with a Friday deadline to introduce its budget, according to Moody's.

The question of whether Detroit negotiated in good faith with its creditors, or even could, emerged as a central question in the nine-day trial over whether the city is eligible to enter Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s 2011 legislation aimed at curbing the collective-bargaining rights of most public employees faces a state Supreme Court test of whether it infringes their rights to free association and free speech, Bloomberg news reports. The seven justices in Madison are schedule today to consider a trial court judge’s ruling last year that parts of the measure known as Act 10 unduly burden union members’ rights.

With the bond markets closed Monday, Nov. 11 for Veterans Day, there will be no market columns. Markets will reopen Tuesday and the Market posts will resume.

In the long-run, Americans need to spend less, save and invest more, as part of a "rebalancing" of the U.S. and Chinese economies, but in the short-run increased consumer spending is "critical" to the U.S. recovery, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President John Williams said Friday.

Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke Friday said there is "an awful lot of slack in the labor market" but said he isn't worried about unpaid student loans causing a new financial crisis.

In an effort to avert future financial crises, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are working together to implement a new regime for "resolving" insolvencies among the largest banks.