Infrastructure

The immediate effect of tariffs is expected to manifest in the country's ports, which was the only sector of infrastructure to earn a "B" grade in the ASCE's Report Card.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there are about 3,200 announced projects that are awaiting formal grant funding agreements, 950 of which were announced right before President Donald Trump took office.

These institutions will see increased usage if some threats to the market come to fruition.

As muni advocates fight for the preservation of tax exemption, foreign investors are using the ASCE Infrastructure Report Card as evidence that increased privatization of assets is needed to improve the grades.

Only Georgia has a higher state-level infrastructure grade from the ASCE than the the C the U.S. received this week. More in the Southeast are C-minus or lower.

The effects of infrastructure spending and the need for more are coming into focus as the municipal bond community is dealing with a Congressional threat to eliminate the tax-exempt status of munis. 

The American Society of Civil Engineers released its infrastructure report card, which shows that billions spent on infrastructure is having overall positive effects on the condition of the nation's bridges, highways, and ports.

The U.S. Department of Transportation is pressing public transit agencies to beef up their commuter safety protocols or lose federal funding while the recently passed continuing resolution raises appropriation levels for the sector by less than a half percent.

Citibank, which holds the government funds, said it froze the money following a request from the FBI.

The Department of Transportation is signaling moves away from Biden-era infrastructure spending tied to environmental concerns and heading back to more formula funding, which is welcome news for transportation heads.