Congress likely to scrutinize competitive grant process in next transportation bill

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act's emphasis on competitive grant programs to fund transportation projects, which marked a major policy shift, will likely come under scrutiny next year as Congress begins to craft the next surface transportation bill. Lawmakers will "want to look at what was working well with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and how to make it better," said Jordan Baugh, senior policy advisor for Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., chair of the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee.

From politics to disclosure to funding, the changing climate challenges muni issuers. Learn more in our Climate Spotlight 2024 package.

Wisconsin is in a relatively small club of Midwest issuers who have turned to forward delivery deals this year. Out of 1,653 deals in the region during the year to date, just five were listed as forward delivery deals, according to data from LSEG. When Wisconsin priced $253.755 million of general obligation refunding bonds for forward delivery on July 23, it was the state's second forward delivery deal in recent months.?

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House Republicans made new threats against private businesses’ ability to make their own ESG investment evaluations. House Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, sent letters to more than 130 investment organizations seeking information about their ESG policies and alliances with groups like Climate Action 100-plus, and telling them to preserve “all documents and communications referring or relating to the company’s efforts to advance ESG-related goals.” The action comes a few weeks after the Treasury Department weighed in from the other side, warning that some of the state anti-ESG laws could undermine national security.

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The Omaha City Council last week approved placing a $333.4 million general obligation bond referendum on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. The GO bond proceeds will go to sewer construction and improvements, streets and parking, public safety and convention center facilities, parks and recreation, highways and bridges, and police and firefighting equipment, as part of the city's capital planning process for the next four to five years, Omaha Finance Director Stephen Curtiss said.

Advance rates are available for The Bond Buyer’s California Public Finance conference , coming to San Francisco in October.

Recent events have been a "roundtrip" for rates , starting with the sentiment shifting from slowing inflation to a softening labor market, said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.

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