Bonds

A debate over Amtrak funding derailed the House of Representative’s fiscal 2024 transportation bill Tuesday as opponents, many of them Republicans from the northeast, criticized the bill’s deep cuts to the train agency. The House was set to vote Tuesday on the Transportation-Housing and Urban Development measure, one of 12 appropriation bills that GOP leaders
Texas ended fiscal 2023 with a hefty cash balance of $48.4 billion in its general revenue fund due largely to higher, but slowing tax collections, the state comptroller reported Monday.  The annual cash report for the fiscal year that ended Aug. 31 said the balance rose $14.6 billion or 43.4% from fiscal 2022. After transfers
Missouri has asked a federal court to toss a lawsuit filed by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association over the state’s first-of-its-kind anti-environmental, social and governance investing rules, arguing that the securities association lacks standing to bring the lawsuit. The dispute stems from Missouri’s four-month-old investment rules that require advisors and broker-dealers to disclose
With a huge airport bond deal potentially on the horizon, Houston Controller Chris Brown is concerned about bringing the debt to the market in the wake of a crackdown by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on compliance with state laws prohibiting governmental contracts with companies, including investment banks, that “boycott”  or “discriminate” against the  fossil
States would suffer deep cuts in water infrastructure funding they receive through state revolving funds, which make up a significant corner of the municipal bond market, under a bill passed Friday by the U.S. House of Representatives. The fiscal 2024 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies appropriations measure, House Bill 4821, totals $37.4
Inflation-adjusted revenues of the 50 states were down 13.7% January through August compared to the same period a year earlier, the Urban Institute reported, but despite this states remain fiscally healthy, thanks to prudent use of recent surpluses, one analyst said. In nominal terms, revenues were down 9.7% in the period. August state tax revenues
A Louisiana congressional committee voted down plans for a $2 billion-plus public-private partnership that would replace an aging toll bridge near Lake Charles, a move that project proponents say will cost the state and provide for few alternatives. In an 8-6 vote on Tuesday, the Louisiana State Legislature’s Joint Transportation Highway and Public Works Committee
Jen Flood will be Michigan’s budget director, replacing Chris Harkins who is leaving the post next month. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday. Flood currently serves as deputy chief of staff, overseeing legislative affairs, federal affairs, policy, appointments, and community engagement divisions within the Democratic governor’s office. Jen Flood, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s current deputy chief
Longtime muni market veteran Steve Winterstein’s strong interest in technology has been a constant in the direction of his 30-year career. “I’ve always been deeply interested in technology, and how to make workflows a lot more efficient and effective,” Winterstein said. After decades in the business and working with other firms focusing on tech, most
A California-based company’s plan to sell up to $500 million of tax-exempt environmental improvement revenue bonds through the Indiana Finance Authority to build a garbage-to-jet fuel facility in Gary is on hold after the company’s bonds for a similar plant in Nevada went into default. Pleasanton, California-based Fulcrum BioEnergy sold about $290 million of environmental