Bonds

S&P Global Ratings raised the rating on Connecticut’s $17.7 billion of general obligation bonds to AA-minus from A-plus. “The upgrade on the state’s GO debt reflects our view of Connecticut’s sustained positive financial results and building of high reserve levels during a recent period of economic and revenue growth,” S&P Global Ratings credit analyst Thomas Zemetis,

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider a teachers’ union appeal of the Puerto Rico plan of adjustment, rejecting the petition for certiorari Monday morning. The plan of adjustment, which went into effect in March, freezes future accruals under the teachers’ defined retirement benefit plan held by those in the plan prior to August 2014

The Bond Buyer announced the recipients of its annual Deal of the Year awards, marking the 21st year it has recognized outstanding achievement in municipal finance. The Bond Buyer has named winners in 10 categories: five awards in our regional areas of coverage, along with five in additional categories. All award winners will be honored

Despite the impact from Hurricane Ian in Florida, the state’s labor force increased by 36,000 in October with Florida’s private sector adding 35,000 of those jobs. This was the 30th straight month that jobs were created in Florida, while private-sector job growth has exceeded the national pace for the past 19 months, the Department of

Evidence shows that the states are collecting and spending more money due to federal action and a tax collection boon, a trend that started two years ago. “Over the past two years total state spending has been heavily impacted by federal COVID-19 aid and rising state tax collections,” said Brian Sigritz, director of State Fiscal

Construction will begin early next year on a public-private partnership to build a $4.2 billion terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport after the team locked in financing and federal environmental approvals this week. “This has been a long and difficult road,” said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Executive Director Rick Cotton

Triple Five, owner of the American Dream mall in New Jersey, has struck a deal with a group of creditors led by JP Morgan that grants the developer a four-year extension on overdue construction debt. The agreement has the potential to ease pressure on $1.1 billion of tax-exempt bond debt taken on separately to finance

Municipals were steady to firmer in spots Friday ahead of a holiday-shortened week and a light new-issue calendar. U.S. Treasuries closed out weaker and equities ended the week with small gains. Triple-A yields were little changed to bumped by up to four basis points, depending on the curve, while U.S. Treasuries saw yields rise by

A $3.4 billion bond issue to securitize costs incurred by Texas natural gas providers during 2021’s Winter Storm Uri appears to be on track for pricing at the end of this month. Members of the state’s Bond Review Board, who have until the end of Friday to call for a full review of the transaction,

Municipals improved again Thursday pushing the 10-year triple-A yield firmly below 3% while inflows into municipal bond mutual funds returned after 14 consecutive weeks of outflows. U.S. Treasuries saw losses and equities ended down after Federal Reserve officials tempered expectations of a slowdown in rate hikes. Triple-A yields fell by three to six basis points,

Three municipal bond veterans with a combined experience of over 90 years are joining the ranks of independent investment bank Brean Capital LLC. William “Bill” Mangan, Greg Swanson, and John Paskalides, who have extensive industry knowledge and experience, will serve as managing directors in the fixed income division and will lead an expansion of the

Municipals rallied across the yield curve Wednesday, outperforming U.S. Treasuries and seeing the greatest gains out long after stronger retail sales data signaled the Fed’s tightening is not yet over, pushing equities into the red. Retail sales increased 1.3% in October, slightly above the consensus forecast of 1.0% and a significant improvement from the flat

Fitch Ratings has upgraded seven series of prepaid municipal energy transactions from four issuers, actions that follow the agency’s upgrade of Morgan Stanley, the guarantor to the gas supplier in all of the transactions. Fitch lifted Morgan Stanley’s issuer default rating to A-plus from A Nov. 4, revising the outlook to stable at the higher

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority fuel line lenders said they have a document to stop the Oversight Board from getting its proposed restructuring approved. The document, the board’s agreement with former PREPA fuel provider Vitol for its support of the restructuring, will make it very difficult for the judge to accept Vitol as a

The District of Columbia’s first public private-public partnership was filled with challenges, but demonstrated how outside-the-box thinking can help issuers overcome obstacles to achieve their infrastructure goals. A panel discussion detailing the financing behind the ambitious plan occurred at the Bond Buyer Infrastructure Conference in Washington D.C. Monday. The D.C. Smart Street Lighting Project calls

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission heads into the market Tuesday with a $489 million new money deal with a new AAA rating attached to the third-lien paper. The commission will take competitive bids on the offering of third-lien state road bonds. PFM Financial Advisors LLC is advising. Gilmore & Bell PC and Bushyhead LLC

Housing leaders are using a mix of public financing and private capital to preserve and build affordable housing from scratch, leveraging the growing interest in ESG investing to help them solve problems difficult to tackle through traditional means. A recent panel discussion at the Brookings Institution brought together experts from the public and private sectors

Arizona’s water financing agency should think big when it comes to the state’s hunt for new water supplies amid a persistent drought. That was the message from board members of the relaunched Water Infrastructure Finance Authority at its inaugural meeting Thursday. State lawmakers passed legislation in June making WIFA, which dates back to 1989 and

Most members of the House Municipal Finance Caucus appear to have won re-election in Tuesday’s tight midterm elections, while key advocates of state and local tax reform will be exiting the stage next year. As results continued to trickle in Friday, Republicans were on track to gain a narrow majority in the House and Democrats

Chicago could win an upgrade into the single-A category if its new pension funding policy remains on track, S&P Global Ratings said in shifting the city’s general obligation outlook to positive from stable. S&P revised the outlook on the city’s BBB-plus general obligation rating Thursday, the same day Kroll Bond Rating Agency lifted the outlook