Featured Municipal Bond Issue, Week of August 27th, 2018: Commonwealth of Massachusetts General Obligation Bonds – $727 Million The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is issuing $727.1 million in general obligation bonds for the purposes of financing capital improvements...
States
State of Illinois to Issue $920 Million in General Obligation Bonds
Featured Municipal Bond Issue, Week of August 20th, 2018: State of Illinois General Obligation Bonds – $920 Million The State of Illinois is issuing $920.2 million in general obligation bonds for the purposes of refunding certain outstanding bonds and to pay...
Into the Gap: State Retirement Savings Systems Empower Workers
State Retirement Savings Plans Provide Opportunities for Small Businesses and Their Employees Offering retirement plans is a widely practiced benefit offering among U.S. employers. However, the vast majority of those plans are offered by large companies with 500 or...
State GDP Growth: Who Finished 2015 in the Right Direction?
2015 GDP Numbers Show Shifting Regional Momentum This week, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released their Gross Domestic Product numbers for each state and region for the fourth quarter of 2015 and the 2015 calendar year. The aggregate change for the U.S. as a...
Where are the Jobs? State Unemployment Performance in 2015
by Jeffrey L Garceau The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released their 2015 survey report of state employment figures. This survey serves to report unemployment figures for each state plus the District of Columbia, as well as employment-population ratios. MuniNet...
Illinois Pension Reform Legislation Is Legally Justifiable and in the Best Interest of All
by James Spiotto On November 21, 2014, the Circuit Court for the Seventh Judicial Circuit in Sangamon County, Illinois presiding over the consolidated Illinois State Pension Reform Litigation ruled that the pension reform legislation passed by the State Legislature...
California Takes a Proactive Leap in Local Government Transparency
When California State Controller John Chiang took office in 2007, increasing transparency and accountability were among his top priorities. One of his goals was to increase public access to local government financial data. Fast forward to 2014. Public access to local...
Rhode Island Follows New Jersey with Controversial Tobacco Issue
Market Outlook The Ebola virus is back, and it brings with it other unpleasant memories of the 1990s. As you may recall, that decade was marked by two major bond market debacles, one in 1994, the other in 1998. Risk assets, particularly the high yield sector, did not...