Munis

The muni market saw $507.585 billion of debt issued in 2024, up 31.8% from $385.061 in 2023. This surpasses the previous record of $484.601 billion in 2020 by more than $20 billion, per LSEG data.

Prolific debt issuance by Texas school districts, state issuers, and others drove muni volume to a state record in 2024, easily surpassing 2023's $59 billion.

The resolution marks the end of a yearslong lawsuit.

"It's an unfortunate part of doing business," said an investor.

President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House promises sweeping tax changes that could impact the aspects of the tax-exempt bond market.

A decline in debt service coverage drove S&P's four-notch downgrade for Salinas, California, sewer revenue debt, which it placed on CreditWatch negative.

The new Congress will have a full plate including deciding the fate of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and Internal Revenue Service funding in a legislature that's already showing cracks of disagreement.

A new law and constitutional amendment will restrict how fast property tax bills can rise on homestead properties, impacting local governments.

In the remaining days of this year, "taxable rates continue to be pressured but munis are finding a stable, even supportive, bidside," said Kim Olsan, a senior fixed income portfolio manager at NewSquare Capital.

Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association has until the end of January to file briefs in its case challenging San Jose's pension obligation bond validation.

The Trump administration will bring a shift in infrastructure priorities.

S&P Global Ratings downgraded San Francisco's debt a notch to AA-plus from AAA citing weakened economic trends and deficit spending. Moody's Ratings lowered it's rating a notch to Aa1 in October.

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved the firing of Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez late Friday during a heated special meeting.

The San Diego County-based hospital system's financial woes were dire enough to earn junk ratings from Fitch Ratings, Moody's Ratings and S&P Global Ratings earlier this year. Fitch further downgraded the already junk ratings on Wednesday.

Indianapolis-based Sycamore Advisors is building its quantitative muscle with two new experienced municipal finance hires in New York: Peter Orr and Ching Yin.

Moody's cited heavy reliance on reserves, potential for continued operating deficts, and a fall 2024 decline in enrollment as factors in the downgrade.

It's hard enough convincing local governments to spend money on cyber insurance that covers ransomware attacks, said Omid Rahmani, public finance cybersecurity lead at Fitch Ratings. The new and very specific threat of a hacked financing process, is "absolutely" underappreciated by the public finance industry.

A continuing resolution that included federal funding for the repair of the Key Bridge in Baltimore and transferring the RFK stadium site to the city of Washington collapsed under pressure.