Public finance

Municipal bond buyers saw more deals come to market on Wednesday as muni yields held in at lower levels.

The current volume cap on PABs issued for highways and freight improvement has just over $2.5 billion remaining that can be authorized by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Five companies responded to a request for “expressions of interest” in building three prisons amid federal scrutiny of conditions in the prison system.

The state's municipalities generally enjoy high bond ratings. Whether they can sustain them in bad times is still up for question.

Council Speaker Corey Johnson hints budget talks will go down to the wire.

The Pritzker administration says it can now afford to make the full originally scheduled pension contribution without re-amortizing the funding timetable.

New expectations for disaster funding, gross national product growth rates, and population may change projections of money for debt.

Municipal bond buyers saw several large competitive deals come to market on Tuesday.

A graduated income tax could lay the groundwork for Illinois to rebuild its credit quality — but only if done right, according to the rating agency.

Chicago and its pension funds dispute whether the city is meeting its obligations; the city says the state comptroller is too quick to believe the funds.

Assured Guaranty CEO Dominic Frederico said at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit that "the open disregard of law" among public officials in Puerto Rico "could give public officials elsewhere reasons to believe they could escape their obligations."

James Spiotto, Managing Director at Chapman Strategic Advisors, explains why he believes U.S. district court Judge Swain's decision on special revenue bonds was wrong, and the impact it may have on revenue bond issuance, at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit.

Thirty-five local plans carry a combined unfunded liability of roughly $2.5 billion, a slight increase from last year, a state report says.

KBRA senior managing director William Cox, when discussing lessons learned from the Puerto Rico debt crisis at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit, noted that the behavior of management sends "strong signals regarding credit character," in this case "chronically late financial statements."

At the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit, Matt Fabian, partner and lead analyst at Municipal Market Analytics, noted that investors "would like to have more distinguishing between credits, but market realities limit their ability to do so."

Adam Bergonzi, Chief Risk Officer of National Public Finance Guarantee, said at the recent AFGI Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Risk Summit that the event was created as a rebuttal to an "oft-heard sentiment" that the commonwealth's bankruptcy was an anomaly.

Jennie Huang Bennett is seen as the front-runner as the municipal bond market awaits the Chicago mayor-elect's fiscal picks.

Critics pointed to the agreement's failure to lower operating costs and its "very favorable" treatment of Assured Guaranty.

The 30-day net supply is now at negative $17.2 billion, a muni strategist said on Monday.

The issuer launched a new investor relations website in advance of its bond sale Tuesday.