Law and legal issues

The Grants Pass decision was viewed as the most consequential for local governments of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent session.

Officials in East St. Louis, Illinois, sued the local police and firefighter pension boards and the state comptroller to block the use of an intercept law.

The Phoenix-based school's debt was rated a notch above junk — to BBB-minus by Fitch Ratings ahead of a refinancing of bonds from a 2021 issue.

S&P Global Ratings revised the outlook on the city's AA rating to negative from stable, citing increased debt and costs from a settlement with firefighters.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, recently vetoed anti-ESG legislation similar to Missouri's, saying that it overstepped legal authority.

A 2023 U.S. Appeals Court ruling derailed federal approvals for the Uinta Basin Railway, which plans to seek up to $2 billion in private-activity bonds.

The California Supreme Court issued an opinion Thursday blocking an anti-tax measure from November's ballot.

Puerto Rico's financial oversight board is seeking to reopen a confirmation hearing on a debt-restructuring plan for the island's power utility after an appeals court last week ruled that bondholders have a claim to the agency's future net revenue.

The city and its Austin Transit partnership are seeking court validation for bonds to help finance the multi-billion-dollar project.

The legislature addressed the cost of a $329 million property tax refund in the state's largest county as well as passed a fiscal 2025 budget.

The bonds are part of a proposed settlement with the city's firefighters union that would need court approval.

The lawsuit filed in 2017 points to funding disparities when public school districts turn to local property taxes and bond issuance for capital funding.

Enviva's $353 million in tax-exempt bonds currently are among the liabilities at stake in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

California lawmakers asked the high court to intervene on the measure headed for November's ballot.

The California Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the state's 2013 pension changes, after seemingly settling the issue with a 2020 ruling.

Utah's Seven County Infrastructure Coalition has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court ruling that led to the loss of federal permits for a proposed bond-financed railway that would transport crude oil.

The bankruptcy of Iowa City's Mercy Hospital is closer to an end with the resolution of a dispute between unsecured creditors and the trustee and bondholder.

Austin Transit Partnership's ability under Texas law to seek expedited court validation for bonds to finance light rail is the subject of an April 25 hearing.

Under the proposed deal, the city would sell $650 million of judgment bonds to fund back pay for firefighters, whose wages would increase by up to 34% over the life of a new five-year contract.

The extraordinary redemptions being used to call Build America Bonds "are based on a creative but flawed legal argument driven by the current change in interest rates," said Kramer Levin partner Amy Caton.