Public finance

GLWA has the flexibility to come to market as early as this week, but is monitoring the market in light of the COVID-19 impact.

Hotels and restaurants are losing as much as 50% of their business in the District of Columbia due to the coronavirus.

"I think it's way too early to determine how we're going to adjust the budget," the mayor said.

The municipal finance industry is dealing with minute-by-minute news of state-wide school closures, shuttered restaurants, curfews and canceled events. New issues are increasingly being put on the day-to-day calendar.

Muni market players may have to rely on more than their basic instincts as the economy heads into stormy weather.

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act last week achieved a milestone by garnering bipartisan cosponsorship by more than half of the 435 members of the House.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration is stressing the city's improved liquidity and jolt of refinancing savings provide a cushion to manage the near-term tax losses.

The comptroller, citing projected losses in entertainment and tourism while the city is virtually closed, called for a savings target of 4% of tax levy-funded agency spending.

Uncertainty still abounds for the public finance space, as just before the market close, President Trump declared a national emergency. Meanwhile, states and cities across the country are closing schools, sporting events, and cutting back public transit. But Friday, at least, provided some reprieve from the five previous volatile days.

Nuveen, Friedlander, BofA offer some recommendations on COVID-19 credit and sector impact.

Cities and states that rely on hotel taxes and tourism-related revenues will lose billions as events and attractions shutter to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The New Jersey state teachers' union and state Senate President Steve Sweeney announced an agreement to lower school district and employee healthcare costs.

Career veterans call fallout from COVID-19 concerns on the municipal market worse than that of 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis combined.

As COVID-19 impacts the U.S. economy, muni market participants want to bring back tax-exempt advance refunding, raise the cap on bank-qualified debt, among others.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act continues to influence the composition of the municipal bond market.

Michael Zezas, managing director of research at Morgan Stanley, notes that muni yields have not fallen as quickly as the Treasury equivalents and recession risk climbs the longer the coronavirus persists. Layer on top of those items the incipient oil competition and quite a storm is brewing. Even liquidity is becoming "disorderly." John Hallacy hosts.

The municipal market was hammered Wednesday by the COVID-19 pandemic with a more than quarter point correction in AAA benchmarks, issuers pulling deals off the shelves and more reports of pricing and evaluation confusion.

Benjamin, who is mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, will co-chair the law firm's public finance and affordable housing practices.

Wisconsin's capital finance director says the market offers savings on state bonds he never thought would be refunding candidates.

Congressional offices may decide to minimize or ban face-to-face meetings as virus concerns grow.