Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's ongoing audit compliance probe led to more than 130 cities being prohibited from raising their property tax rates.

The Senate voted 54-45 to confirm Kevin Warsh to lead the central bank. Warsh will take the reins from Jerome Powell, who said he will remain on the Federal Reserve Board.

Alaska Housing Finance Corp. had its Aa1 ratings affirmed by Moody's ahead of plans to issue debt.

Northwest Nazarene University, an Idaho private Christian college, had its ratings outlook revised to positive.

By harmonizing its gift rule with FINRA's amended gift rule, the MSRB "aims for consistency in the application of MSRB and FINRA rules among dealers that are FINRA members," the MSRB's Ernesto Lanza said. 

The board also approved issuing a request for comment relating to disclosure documents for 529 plans and other municipal fund securities.

"Clearly, issuers still need access to this very important financing tool," said State of Michigan Treasurer Rachael Eubanks, who also serves as this year's president of the National Association of State Treasurers.

Fitch Ratings cited Sacramento City Unified School District's fiscal challenges in downgrading its issuer default rating to junk and assigning a negative outlook.

The state's expectation of a deficit in the coming biennium budget was cited in the outlook revision.

"Retiring these terms eliminates unnecessary ambiguities associated with their use in MSRB rules," MSRB Board Vice Chair Wendell Gaertner said.

Fitch revised the outlook to negative from stable, citing a significant jump in leverage.

The $14.6 billion budget calls for hiring police and Olympic-focused infrastructure spending after last year's spending plan proposed layoffs.

The rating agency cited the prospect of lowered debt service coverage ratios in the next three years.

"I find this a very encouraging appointment," Peter Chan, a partner at law firm Baker McKenzie, said of Woodcock's appointment.

"I would much rather invest in the muni, both in terms of default rates and in terms of the yield that you're getting off of those," said Travis Lower.

S&P cited repeated draws on reserves for the lowered outlook.

Moody's Ratings upgraded Alum Rock Union Elementary School District on proactive management actions in the face of enrollment and fiscal challenges.

The review, which included mostly Texas and Colorado bond issuers, comes as the amount of voter-approved debt authorized for districts is exploding.

"Everyone that is in this industry relies on our technology," CEO Mark Kim said Thursday at a BDA conference in Chicago.

S&P Global Ratings cited the state's structurally balanced budgets and progress on improving the finances of its pension system.