Public finance

ARKANSAS

ILLINOIS

Detroit is eligible for bankruptcy protection, the federal judge overseeing the case ruled Tuesday.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., will introduce a bill phasing in a 15 cent increase in the federal gasoline tax, currently at 18.4 cents per gallon.

ILLINOIS

CALIFORNIA

A House committee chairman made clear at a hearing on Monday that it may take Congress years to determine whether to amend a nearly 100-year-old law to allow the District of Columbia to raise the heights of some buildings to accommodate increased growth and obtain more tax revenue.

A four-person team of experienced professionals will help lead the American Association of Airport Executives.

The municipal market is struggling to tread water Monday as light new-issue volume battles against fading Treasury yields to provide direction.

Tax-exempt money market funds had $1.08 billion in outflows, reducing total net assets to $262.74 billion in the week ended Nov. 25, according to The Money Fund Report, a service of iMoneyNet.com.

Yields in the municipal market have started Monday somewhat weaker as they search for traction.

INDIANA

CALIFORNIA

Municipal issuance is expected to surge in the post-holiday primary market, led by a $1.2 billion revenue sale from the New York State Tobacco Settlement Authority.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will conduct a $452 million combination new money/refunding competitive sale Dec. 4 to pay for cost overruns on several projects.

The bankruptcy judge overseeing Detroit's Chapter 9 case delayed a ruling on a $160 million borrowing plan to finance the city's lighting system due to possible conflict of interest by public finance firm Miller Canfield Paddock and Stone PLC.

The merger of American Airlines and US Airways Group can proceed as scheduled after a federal bankruptcy judge's clearance of the airlines' federal anti-trust settlement.

ILLINOIS

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

A group of Detroit's creditors, including bond insurers, asked the bankruptcy court overseeing the city's case to appoint a committee to assess the value of the city art collection and propose ideas for monetizing it.