Bonds

Whether the not-for-profit hospital sector earns its exemptions from taxes and the related ability to issue tax-exempt debt takes center stage in a new Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. The foundation’s report values the benefits of tax-exempt status for hospitals at nearly $12 billion more than the amount of discounted and free care they provided in

South Carolina lawmakers are moving to remove the state’s elected comptroller from office after a $3.5 billion accounting blunder went unnoticed by his office for a decade. Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom is facing removal by a legislative vote this month for “willfully neglecting his duties” aftera state investigation into his office concluded he was responsible

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority bondholders asked a magistrate to intervene on discovery issues but were rebuffed. Magistrate Judith Dein, who is handling discovery matters, denied the request because the Oversight Board said it was still considering bondholders’ discovery requests. She ordered the sides to continue to negotiate, with the bondholders filing a status report

Illinois plans to sell up to $2.5 billion of general obligation debt before the fiscal year closes June 30 in its first primary market outing to benefit from upgrades that put two of its ratings in single-A territory. The state plans to sell up to $1.5 billion of new money and is eyeing another up

The Virgin Islands Superior Court ruled the territory’s Senate has the power to alter the Water and Power Authority’s board of directors, a decision one municipal bond analyst called a credit positive. The court upheld a Senate bill requiring board members to have greater expertise in energy, technology, economics, and finance; reducing the number of

Bills seeking to restrict or expand municipal bond issuance and rein in debt practices are on the menu for Texas lawmakers during the legislative session that commenced in January and wraps up in late May.  Numerous bond-related measures are among a record 8,153 bills and joint resolutions introduced in the Republican-controlled legislature by a March

The takeover of the Houston Independent School District by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) on the basis of academic performance does not affect its AA-plus underlying rating, S&P Global Ratings analysts said Friday. The TEA said Wednesday the largest public school district in Texas will be run by a state-appointed board of managers and superintendent

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said the Federal Reserve shouldn’t be spooked into easing its campaign to contain inflation out of excessive concern about a credit crunch in the wake of the recent banking turmoil. “It would be very unfortunate if, out of solicitude for the banking system, the Fed were to slow down its

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed an independent watchdog within the California Energy Commission to monitor the state’s petroleum market on a daily basis. The proposal represents a shift from his plan to place a cap on oil company profits, though it would give the commission more authority to investigate gasoline price spikes and the

Regional leaders in the Northeast kept up high-profile efforts to show support for local entities facing challenges after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank in California and Signature Bank in New York. Despite federal measures to backstop all deposits, even those higher than the $250,000 deposit insurance limit, the failure of the California bank, which

Municipals were firmer in spots to end a chaotic week that saw triple-A benchmarks both follow U.S. Treasuries in a flight to quality and ignore UST movements — as munis did on Friday for the most part — as the banking sector crisis continued. USTs rallied and equities sold off Friday. Triple-A benchmarks were bumped

The banking sector crisis cast a wide net of influence over the municipal market this week, stirring pricing volatility, upending monetary policy predictions and raising questions among participants over how deep the troubles run and whether the potential contagion will roil economic prospects. Silvergate Bank’s March 8th announcement it was closing up shop led the

Munis largely ignored a U.S. Treasury sell-off as reports that some troubled banks were getting new funding helped calm investors’ concerns about a global banking crisis. Equities rallied on the news. Triple-A benchmarks were bumped up to five basis points, depending on the scale, while UST yields rose 10 to 25 basis points 10 years

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed new rules for all market entities, including broker dealers and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, to help address cybersecurity risks as one part of a three-part proposal intended to strengthen cybersecurity protections. Proposed new Rule 10, if implemented, would require entities across markets to establish, maintain and enforce

Moody’s Investor’s Service raised the outlook on the A. B. Won Guam International Airport senior revenue bonds Baa2 rating to stable from negative Wednesday. Moody’s Lead Analyst William Oh said the improved outlook stemmed from Moody’s expectation that enplanement levels will continue to improve because South Korea and Japan have lifted COVID-19-related travel restrictions. The

Florida’s most prominent issuer official is on board with pending legislation to limit the ability of issuers around the state to shape the municipal bonds they sell. House Bill 3, which cleared two committees this week, would prohibit bond issuers from issuing an environmental, social, and corporate governance bond or paying for a third-party verifier

Illinois drew a fresh rating upgrade Tuesday for making further progress in tackling its chronic fiscal sore spots. Moody’s Investors Service raised Illinois’ general obligation and sales tax-backed Build Illinois bonds by one notch to A3 from Baa1 and assigned a stable outlook. The upgrade also lifts the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority’s rating one

Rudy Yakym, R-Ind., has been named Republican co-chair of the House Municipal Finance Caucus, a position he takes over from the late Jackie Walorski, who passed away unexpectedly last August. That was confirmed in a release by his Democratic co-chair Dutch Ruppersberger of Maryland, who founded the caucus in 2016. The caucus comprises a bipartisan

The Federal Reserve’s top regulator will lead a probe of its supervision activity that preceded the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, the central bank announced Monday. Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr will conduct a review of the regulation and supervision activity applied to Santa Clara, Calif.-based Silicon Valley Bank, which was shut

A controversial railway project in northeast Utah’s Uinta Basin has set its sights on up to $2 billion in private activity bond financing as it fends off heightened environmental concerns in the wake of last month’s train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. The 86-mile rail line would extend from two terminus points in the basin