Politics

As lobbying efforts happen behind the scenes in the House, the ongoing battle over the Washington, D.C., budget is attracting attention from the market and the credit rating agencies who are hedging their bets on a successful outcome.

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.

"If you're an issuer, this is fly-in season," said Jarrod Loadholt, partner at Ice Miller LLP. "Don't hope someone else is going to solve this for you — they're not."

A $1.1 billion dollar cut to the Washington, D.C., budget by way of Congressional action is on hold thanks to intensive lobbying and an intervention by the Senate as the city vows to meet its financial obligations.

The state is trying to navigate its way to a fiscal 2026 budget amid potential federal policy changes and the heightened risk of a recession.

With no policy changes expected, analysts are eagerly awaiting the new Summary of Economic Projections for clues about future monetary policy.

Bond-issuing infrastructure districts and development zones were a focus of legislation passed by Utah lawmakers during a session that ended March 7.

President Trump's selection of Federal Reserve Gov. Michelle Bowman as the next vice chair for supervision comes as banking groups and their allies in Congress asked the administration to fill the position quickly. Bowman was the preferred choice for many in the industry.

The MSRB has said it is amending a pending rule change that would greatly shorten the reporting time standard for municipal bond trades, which could cause problems for certain transactions, dealer firms said.

Moody's Ratings revised the outlook to negative from stable but affirmed the A1 rating on the CTA's senior lien sales tax bonds.