Public finance

Cities are responding to a state directive to remove symbols on crosswalks and other so-called distractions or risk losing state and federal funding.

The bonds are rated A-plus by three ratings agencies and are expected to have serial maturities from 2026 to 2055.

"The story remains the same: solid demand is more than enough to take down the sizable new issue supply," said Daryl Clements, a portfolio manager at AllianceBernstein.

Its triple-A bonds have recovered after cheapening earlier this year under a pressure campaign from the Trump administration.

The county agreed to pay an additional $828 million to victims of childhood sexual abuse who sued under a 2019 state law that raised the statute of limitations for such cases.

Photos from The Bond Buyer's 2025 Infrastructure conference.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York and New York City both saw billion-dollar-plus deals oversubscribed. 

The new-issue calendar is at $15.637 billion and boasts four mega deals.

State and local pension funds are "surviving but not thriving," said Equable in its State of Pensions 2025 report.

Frederick Putnam has joined Texas Capital's government, nonprofit and institutions team as managing director, senior relationship manager.

Among those approved is a $117 million variable rate demand bond expected to be marketed late this year.

Earlier Thursday, the market was "chugging along, doing OK, just kind of nothing, in between slight strength to modest upticks, but the narrative changed when that bank news came out. The market really ran pretty quickly," said Chris Brigati, managing director and CIO at SWBC.

"The project is not dead," said the transportation planning board chair.

Fitch Ratings cited the hospital's growing revenue and other factors in lifting the issuer's outlook.

The city plans a competitive general obligation bond sale, as well as a sales tax revenue bond issue to help finance a professional basketball arena next year.

Metra announced fare hikes in its 2026 budget, part of a broader regional policy requiring the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace to raise fares.

The city council took action to keep the property tax rate unchanged, a move that could punch a $53 million hole in the fiscal 2026 budget and drain reserves.

"In theory at least, municipal yields should be able to stabilize here; levels remain attractive for pure income buyers while more sustainable constructive fund inflows are just enough to speak for rising issuance in the absence of meaningful reinvestment," said Matt Fabian, president of Municipal Market Analytics.

"If I wanted to target municipal finance, this would be a really good place for me to start," said Omid Rahmani, public finance cybersecurity lead at Fitch Ratings.

Municipal Market analytics hired Marvis Gutierrez in response to growing demand for the firm's services and plans to keep hiring.