Munis

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.

The NFMA has floated best disclosure practices for public power agencies that ask for more data on climate and resiliency goals.

Ohio legislators plan to vote Wednesday on a resolution that would put a $2.5 billion general obligation bond measure on statewide ballots May 6.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's finance committee approved $9 billion of bonds, some backed by new revenue sources.

Voters in November approved measures to split the Alpine School District, which has more than $500 million of outstanding bonds, into three systems.

Concerns are rising as the Congressional Budget Office has issued a report laying out the benefits of eliminating tax-exempt qualified private activity bonds.

Justices appeared open to narrowing the scope of federal environmental impact reviews during oral arguments on a bond-financed Utah railway to move crude oil.

The county commission, which sued Oklahoma City in June over its denial of permit for the jail site, is pursuing a possible settlement.

The action was taken ahead of a bond sale for a controversial 15-year expansion program that is currently estimated to cost $8.2 billion up from $5 billion.

The president of St. Augustine University in North Carolina called the loan a "necessary evil" as it fights to remain solvent and accredited.

Most on the Street expect issuance to come in around $500 billion, but a few think volume will be much higher, primarily because of potential changes to the tax exemption. Most firms expect refunding volumes to also grow in 2025.