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Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state can afford to keep paying for critical services as the coronavirus toll mounts.

The Unsecured Creditors Committee responded to the Oversight Board chairman's statements that the board may change central government bond restructuring terms.

"Like all businesses, we are operating in a period of uncertainty which may last several months," Virgin Trains/Brightline President Patrick Goddard said.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., pledged Thursday the massive spending bill would pass on a voice vote even though some objections were expected during a Friday morning vote.

The Los Angeles and San Diego school districts warned that extraordinary costs mean their budgets may not balance.

Benchmark yields fell another 50 to 60 basis points, dropping them more than 1.5% in just four days. Meanwhile, a $450 million taxable new-issue came to market and was eight times oversubscribed.

Morgan Stanley (MS), Ameritas Investment Company LLC and a former Stifel broker agreed this week to pay the fines for violating multiple muni securities rules.

Smith, who headed the restructuring practice at Chicago-based McDermott Will & Emery, worked on nearly every major muni bankruptcy of the past 20 years.

Initial jobless claims surged, as expected, hitting an all-time high of a seasonally adjusted 3.283 million in the week ended March 21, as the impacts of the coronavirus-driven closures showed in the numbers, the Labor Department said. The previous high for claims was 695,000 in October 1982.

Arizent, the parent company of Bond Buyer, has released a broad industry survey on both the impact of the crisis and emerging responses. The survey found the pandemic has forced many companies to implement new or modified business continuity plans, appoint executive response teams and invest in new technologies to enable a remote workforce. The pandemic is also expected to lead to a greater investment in technologies that reduce the reliance on face-to-face interactions for both coworkers and clients.

Municipal benchmark yields were lowered by 60 to 80 basis points across the curve. Some trades pointed to nearly a 1% bump on short-term paper while state and local governments grapple with downgrades and revenue shortfalls.

Thirty-six firms made the cut, and eight didn't, when Illinois reviewed broker-dealer qualifications for new underwriting pools.

The Department of Finance told department heads it will be re-evaluating budget requests under a workload budget scenario.

In the MSRB’s first report showing data from March 24, trades topped 87,215, which is likely a record, said Marcelo Vieira, MSRB director of research.

With the Federal Reserve bringing the target rate down to the zero lower bound, communication takes on a vital role, and, if used properly, can enhance Fed actions.

Overall $274.231 billion of the coronavirus emergency supplemental appropriations package goes to state and local governments and communities.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration places nearly $1 billion of discretionary spending in reserve through the 2021 fiscal year amid economic struggles from virus.

The Citizens Budget Commission is calling for far larger cost cutting and predicts that New York City could see $20 billion of lost revenues over three fiscal years.

The Disaster Emergency Funding Board, authorized in 1973, will consider Gov. Gina Raimondo's request for up to $300 million short term borrowing.

A judge preliminarily approved a deal to end three lawsuits, but the South Carolina-owned utility still faces federal securities fraud litigation.

First Manhattan Co. bought municipal securities from an unaffiliated dealer without making a reasonable effort to obtain fair and reasonable prices, FINRA said.

The rating agency, citing severe ridership drops from COVID-19, dropped its rating to A-minus from A. It assigns a negative outlook.

The short end in particular was rebounding after Fed announced it would include variable rate demand obligations and short-term paper to its balance sheets.

Disclosure in a series of pending and recently priced Midwest healthcare deals underscore the rapidly evolving impact of COVID-19.

Public finance advocates said the Senate bill has been broadened to authorize the Federal Reserve to purchase all types of bonds that are sold on the secondary market.

Two baseball stadiums and a basketball arena face cash-flow hits from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The short-term funding for airports and transit agencies in stimulus bills won’t be a substitute for the stability of long term financing.

They asked for a combined $4.4 billion.

The mayor cited COVID-19 as a spending priority while cases in his city represent more than one-third of the nation's total.

Assured Guaranty (AGO) and BAM, the two active muni bond insurers, released statements Monday saying they are prepared and able to manage impacts of COVID-19.

Arlene Bohner has been named Fitch's head of U.S. public finance and will report to Laura Porter.

New York MTA and 10 other transit systems have cited the crippling effects of ridership drops due to COVID-19.

The funds will be in addition to the $160 million from the Emergency Reserve Fund that the board released March 12.

The economic dislocations brought by COVID-19 led Fitch Ratings to drop the Long Island county to BBB-plus.

Eric Holcomb said the state will consider using bond authority to move forward with capital projects that were to have been funded on a pay-go basis.

The Fed today added in variable rate demand notes to other short-term municipal debt to a list of assets eligible to be used as collateral by financial institutions, which contributed to some stability in the secondary market.

The timing of a $1.5 billion deal California had planned to price Thursday is no longer firm amid massive dislocations in the markets.

A big New York State Empire Development Corp. private placement is likely to be followed by more until the municipal primary starts functioning again.

Two rating agencies placed a negative outlook U.S. toll roads, while others monitor risks as volumes decline as COVID-19 keeps drivers at home.

Bond-financed bridges across the Rio Grande will lose revenue because of the partial closure of the border, as will the Texas economy.