News and Information from Bond Buyer

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority will restructure a portion of fiscal 2023 debt service amid tax collections still recovering from the pandemic.

Several California cities have waged a multi-year climate change battle against oil companies

South Carolina-based Jasper Pellets borrowed $12.5 million in private activity bonds in 2018. A deal to settle the firm's Chapter 11 bankruptcy pays the debt.

Vern Buchanan looks poised to succeed Richard Neal as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee should Republicans take the House on Nov. 8 and could offer the muni agenda a fresh start.

American Rescue Plan Act dollars amounted to around 22% of states' annual general fund budgets, according to a court filing from a trio of southern states fighting ARPA's restriction on tax cuts.

While muni performance has turned negative for October, "the asset class is significantly outperforming UST," said Jeff Lipton, managing director of credit research at Oppenheimer Inc.

In a letter to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee warned that the Fed was in danger of going too far in its efforts to tame inflation.

The bondholders say they are owed $8.3 billion of principal and billions more of unpaid interest.

Chicago, upgraded Friday by Fitch, will follow City Council's expected passage of a new 2023 budget next month with a new money general obligation bond issue.

As issuers push against a financial disclosure bill pending in the Senate, some buy-siders say standardized disclosure would attract more investors and boost liquidity.

The strength of the California economy suggests it deserves higher ratings, CreditSights said, but slowing revenues could mean the state's credit has peaked.

Levels fell back to pre-pandemic levels, state comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said, "so the notion that it's crashing and it's all gloom-and-doom is not a fair observation."

The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped $22.897 billion in the first three quarters of 2022, a 21.1% decrease from the $29.028 billion of deals done in the first nine months of 2021.

The top bond counsel firms combined for a total of $292.177 billion in 6,406 transactions during the first three quarters of the year, down from the $343,709 billion in 9,139 deals over the same period in 2021.

Keeley Webster, a Bond Buyer senior reporter, hosts a discussion with Raul Amezcua, a Ramirez & Co. managing director, on a California committee's efforts to craft ESG disclosure guidelines to encourage greater issuance of green bonds and provide more transparency for investors. (20 minutes)

"Municipal market performance has improved, but the bumpy road continues as investors remain uncertain about the interest rate environment," said Nuveen's Head of Municipals John Miller.

Municipal issuers are learning the ropes of ESG disclosure and marketing.

The zoo's parent received double-A-level ratings with the bonds rated one to two notches lower as a result of appropriation risks.

The workers say federal law bars the impairment of their wages.