Virginia Beach tapped the municipal bond market to help fund a surf park development backed by multi-Grammy award winning artist Pharrell Williams.  The Virginia Beach Development Authority priced about $189 million of debt on Thursday with some of the bond proceeds financing the construction of a 3,500-person entertainment venue, parking facilities and land acquisitions, as

Municipals were steady to slightly weaker in spots ahead of a $12 billion-plus calendar, while U.S. Treasury yields rose and equities were mixed near the close There are nearly 30 new-issues over $100 million on tap across the credit spectrum, led by the week’s largest negotiated deal from Harris County, Texas, with $950 million of

A Senate Finance Committee hearing led by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, contemplated ways to smooth funding for rural hospitals as the number in the red has spiked in recent years. Rural hospitals and clinics across the U.S., including in Oregon, have been particularly hard hit by the challenges facing healthcare over the past several years.

States are casting around for solutions to a drop in gas tax revenues which includes hiked registration fees and the expansion of toll roads, which remains politically sensitive.  “Various projections from state DOTs, think tanks, and economists show that gas tax revenue, which is the largest source of revenue for state transportation trust funds, is

The Federal Reserve’s delay of interest-rate cuts in a bid to temper inflation runs the risk of falling behind the curve, according to Mohamed El-Erian. “The Fed pivoted on the basis of data. It was the opposite of the pivot that they did in December — now they have to do a U-turn,” El-Erian, the

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is seeking to halt the trend of property insurers exiting the state, citing losses, by expediting how quickly they can increase rates. Newsom announced plans to draft a trailer bill to speed up work done by the state’s Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara during Friday’s briefing on May revisions to his proposed

Municipal bonds saw a touch of weakness in spots as the last large issues of the week priced while municipal bond mutual fund flows show retail engaged and high-yield continuing to outperform the broader investment-grade market. U.S. Treasuries faced some pressure on a slew of economic data and Fed speak that gave participants pause on

After nearly a year of negotiations and four short-term extensions, and a week after the Senate passed it, the House Wednesday approved a bipartisan $105 billion Federal Aviation Administration bill, sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk two days before the agency’s spending runs out. The 387-26 vote passed a bill that features a solid bump

Fitch Ratings last week upgraded Milwaukee’s issuer default rating and general obligation rating to A-plus from BBB-plus. The outlook is stable.  Milwaukee benefited from Fitch’s new rating criteria, rolled out last month, which incorporate most of the credit factors that Fitch has considered historically but include additional analytical factors and now assign specific weightings to