Munis

The state of Illinois is preparing to issue $600 million in new Build Illinois junior sales tax revenue bonds next week.

Caine Mitter & Associates and RBC Capital Markets moved into the top 10, while Piper Sandler & Co. and Kaufman Hall & Associates were bumped to the top 15.

Half of the top 10 issuers were new entrants: the California Community Choice Finance Authority, Main Street Natural Gas, the state of Washington, the Texas Natural Gas Securitization Finance Corp. and Illinois.

RBC ramped up business to land at second place and Jefferies rose to third while Raymond James entered the top 10, knocking Barclays to 11th. Citi, which exited the business, closed at sixth place.

A bill before the state legislature would create a public infrastructure bank, where municipalities could go to finance projects from affordable housing to bridges.

Three districts are under Washington's state fiscal oversight and the largest, Marysville School District, took a multi-notch Moody's bond rating downgrade.

A new proposal would establish a fund for maintenance while precluding new bond issuance.

The climate rule aimed at cutting transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions will restrict investment in certain projects, said the states.

The muni market saw $379.992 billion of debt issued in 2023, only $11.076 billion less than the lackluster $391.068 billion seen in 2022.

Municipal bond issuance in the Lone Star State totaled $59 billion in 2023, spurred by utility rate securitizations and school bonds.

Participants are mixed on whether there will be continued growth in 2024, but some still see a universe of taxable bonds that still can be tendered.

Fitch Ratings upgraded the Riverside County Interstate 15 managed lane project two notches, affecting $152.2 million in debt.

The proposed pipeline, which dates back to 2006, would transport Colorado River water from the Lake Powell reservoir to the southwest corner of Utah.

Michigan is paying down debts of six local school districts – two of which have closed or merged with neighbors – including outstanding bond balances.

Cities and states in the Southwest are making affordable housing a funding priority through voter-approved general obligation bonds or in their budgets.

The Water Infrastructure Financing Authority will use information it received from banks, businesses, conservation groups, and others to solicit water augmentation projects next year.

Increasing capital requirements for banks may incentivize them to buy Treasuries over other assets, including munis, said market participants.

The county plans to sell $2.5 billion of tax-exempt sewer revenue warrants to refund the debt issued to finance its 2013 exit from Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

SIFMA, which also filed a brief, said the District Court judge's rejection of a bondholder lien on PREPA's revenues "grossly misreads the underlying bond documents."

The Philadelphia-based financial advisory firm has used BVAL for several years, but once the full interpolated curve and the intraday hourly changes were released on the EMMA, PFM decided to use BVAL as its primary pricing curve.