Public finance

A plan before county commissioners to put a 0.625% permanent sales tax on the April ballot to complete a bond-financed jail project failed to advance.

Greg Goldberg jumped over from RBC Capital Markets to help Raymond James expand its public finance housing practice.

The rates market is "on edge" as global fiscal and geopolitical pressures collide, said James Pruskowski, managing director at Hennion & Walsh.

Indiana looks to entice the National Football League's Chicago Bears to move to northwest Indiana by offering state-backed bonds to fund a new stadium.

Another government shutdown later this month may be averted.

Moody's cited the enterprise's exceptional cash position and strong debt service coverage.

Counties are onboard with proposed FEMA reform that's currently gaining no traction in the Senate as smaller locales that don't issue bonds struggle with delayed disaster relief.

Fitch's three-notch senior bond downgrade reflects "substantial credit risk."

The new-issue calendar is an estimated $10.836 billion, with $6.979 billion of negotiated deals on tap and $3.857 billion of competitives.

New York City's longtime bad budgeting habits are coming back to haunt it, said Mark Levine, who was sworn in as comptroller this month.

A squabble between the U.S. Department of Transportation and the state of Maryland appears to be moving towards a resolution which effects two major bridges in the Washington D.C. – Baltimore region.

The Florida train is struggling to generate enough revenue to pay its debt.

"There are big credit differences between Chicago and New York City," said an investor.

The measure would fund 40,000-plus homes to address the state's persistent supply gap, supporters say. Time is tight to qualify it for the June election.

"We're starting off from a really high tax equivalent yield and that really starts the market from a position of strength," said Matt Norton, CIO for municipal bonds at AllianceBernstein.

The tax reform costs will be offset by reductions in certain government spending, application of excess revenues that are coming in, and elimination of certain tax exemptions.

As Congress hammers away on a surface transportation bill, counties are fighting for a seat at the table while reckoning with dwindling gas tax revenues.

The Maryland Department of Transportation's acting secretary said the bill would provide "greater transparency and accountability in transportation spending decisions."

Pending city council approval, the February competitive bond sale would be the first issuance from $950 million of debt authorized by voters on Nov. 4.

State revenues were down 0.7% in the first six months of the fiscal year compared to a year earlier.