Public finance

Louisiana needs more robust sources of transportation revenues to restore its highway system, transition panel says.

WISCONSIN

New tolled express lane west of Denver is meeting early expectations for congestion relief within the I-70 corridor.

ARIZONA

The weekly average yield to maturity of The Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index, which is based on 40 long-term bond prices, was unchanged at 4.22% for the week ended Dec. 30 from the previous week.

NEW YORK

MISSOURI

With a fresh default on debt service looming, Lombard, Ill., wants bondholders to buy into a proposed restructuring of its $190 million of hotel/conference center debt.

CALIFORNIA

Illinois returns to the market in January with a $480 million bond deal after a 20-month absence during which its ratings fell and its unpaid bill backlog skyrocketed, and with a state budget six months overdue.

Washington State Treasurer James McIntire surprised insiders with his decision to not seek re-election after two terms in a position that includes oversight of state bond sales.

Municipal portfolio managers, strategists, analysts, and directors, weighed in on the impact of December's interest rate increase and other predictions for 2016.

MISSOURI

In the week ended Dec. 24, the weekly average yield to maturity of the Bond Buyer Municipal Bond Index fell to 4.22% from 4.24% in the previous week. The BB40 Index is based on the price of 40 long-term bonds.

The gasoline tax and other dedicated taxes and fees provide about 70% of the funding in the new five-year, $305 billion FAST Act, but that level of support will drop to about 50% when the measure expires in October 2020, said Peter Nonis, senior manager for federal relations at the American Society of Civil Engineers.

The search for a robust revenue source to supplement or even replace the federal gasoline tax will pick up speed in 2016.

ILLINOIS

Respondents to an annual SIFMA survey predict total municipal issuance will hit $431.5 billion next year, while they predict that the federal funds rate will rise to 1% by the end of 2016.

The new five-year federal transportation funding law has opportunities as well as some limits for P3 project financing.

KENTUCKY