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While Texas is forecasting a big budget balance, fiscal boom times are ebbing for it and other Southwest states amid tax cuts and depleted federal funding.

The Los Angeles-area wildfires have sparked a negative rating watch for several credits from Fitch Ratings.

As the Trump administration fills out it cabinet positions, advocates for housing affordability are feeling hopeful but cautious.

The muni market saw a record $507.585 billion of debt issued in 2024, up 31.8% from $385.061 billion in 2023, according to LSEG data. 

The top 10 advisors accounted for $249.421 billion of par or 59.3% of the total issuance with municipal advisors.

New York boasts four of the top 10 issuers, followed by California with two and one a piece for Florida, Massachusetts, Washington and New Jersey.

With losses expected to be measured in the tens or hundreds of billions, the municipal finance industry begins to take stock of the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent sparred with the Senate Finance Committee over the future direction of fiscal policy in the Trump administration that will be trying to tackle major tax legislation.

The insurance market going into the Jan. 7 catastrophe already had been hit with non-renewals and cancellations -- and an overburdened state-supported insurance plan. A Morningstar analyst said the state insurance commissioner's reform strategy could have turned it around but now faces new obstacles.

OMB director nominee Russell Vought said he supports allowing the president to redirect funding away from state and local governments, bypassing the congressional appropriations process.

Because of the disaster, income tax filing deadlines for Los Angeles County residents will be delayed to October, muddying the revenue picture for the state.

The bonds — $824.8 million tax-exempt and $400 million taxable — follow Orlando Health's major acquisitions of hospitals in Alabama and Florida.