Public finance

Federal, state and local elected officials joined LA Metro in announcing the receipt of a $1.25 billion full funding grant agreement from the Federal Transit Administration for its Purple Line subway extension.

CALIFORNIA

ARKANSAS

Michigan legislators neared a vote on a package of bills aimed at resolving Detroit's bankruptcy after a hearing that saw testimony from public finance veteran Richard Ravitch and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.

The House passed a $12.3 billion water infrastructure bill Tuesday that funds 34 port, inland waterway, and dam projects.

Airport infrastructure public-private partnerships are often stymied by a web of competing local interests, aviation advocates told a House P3 panel.

The parched market for municipal bond refundings may get some relief next year as call provisions kick in on debt issued a decade ago, easing a supply squeeze that has caused spreads to tighten this year..

ILLINOIS

IOWA

President Obama used his weekly address to criticize House Republicans for chopping the TIGER grant program to $100 million in 2015.

Kent Hiteshew, the director of the Treasury Department's new office of state and local finance, described the office's initial areas of focus and asked municipal government finance officials to provide input about how the office could be helpful.

IOWA

ALABAMA

Municipal bond volume will jump to the highest level in four weeks as $5.7 billion is estimted to the priced this week, led by a Missouri transportation financing and a Connecticut general obligation offering that plan to vie for investors' attention as the week's largest deals.

Congress is expected to pass a compromise water infrastructure bill this week that funds 34 projects totaling $12 billion.

BlackRock Inc. says municipal bonds will extend April's gains as the second quarter progresses, though credit quality concerns remain for investors in Puerto Rico, New Jersey and tobacco bonds.

The fight over Detroit's proposed 10% recovery for its limited-tax general obligation bonds heated up last week as Ambac challenged the treatment as a failure to understand the basics of Chapter 9 and municipal finance.

Municipal bond fund inflows declined in the week ending May 15 as gains by high-yield funds slowed.

Public finance guru Richard Ravitch, in a lengthy interview, discusses his new book and how cities and states haven't learned from New York's 1975 fiscal crisis.

CONNECTICUT