Infrastructure funds inch through red tape toward cities and states

As the Biden administration this week kicks off a national tour promoting its nearly two-year-old infrastructure law, the work to dispatch the funds into state and local coffers has just begun. Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt recently told a skeptical senator that the FHWA is working "closely" with grant winners to speed approval of project grant agreements, which are necessary to obligate the money and send it to the recipient. "One of the things that I have been very focused on is turning awards into projects," said Bhatt, who took the federal highway helm in January.

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More than 160 projects across all states won a chunk of federal funds from a popular and competitive transportation grant program. The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity, or RAISE, discretionary grant program saw its funding double — to $7.5 billion — under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Created by President Barack Obama, the program used to be called TIGER and, under President Donald Trump, the BUILD program. The projects will "make transportation systems safer, more accessible and more sustainable," said White House infrastructure senior advisor Mitch Landrieu.

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New York is poised to become the first U.S. city to charge drivers to enter an urban center after the Metropolitan Transportation Authority won final federal approval Monday for its congestion pricing plan. MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said Wednesday that drivers could expect to see tolling by next spring.

If you missed any of our ESG Week coverage, make sure to check our ESG special section which has all the articles, the podcast and a taped version of the Leaders event.

Fitch Ratings said that a decade of deleveraging has come to an end for public power utilities in the United States. Leverage metrics for U.S. public power utilities weakened meaningfully, the rating agency said in a sector review.

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Pension funding-related threats to the fiscal health of Chicago and Illinois are on the rise , according to reports published this week. "We believe pensions have an elevated probability of stressing the state and local governments' budgets even as Illinois has made supplemental contributions above the statutorily required amounts," S&P Global Ratings analyst Joseph Vodziak said in that rating agency’s report.

Registration is open for The Bond Buyer California Public Finance conference Oct. 18-20 in San Francisco. Take advantage of Early Bird Rate savings of up to $300.

Raymond James has expanded its public finance department with three hires for its senior living and debt restructuring groups. The team of David Fields, Rob Whitlock and Naomi O'Dell joins the firm from RBC Capital Markets bringing a combined 80 years of senior living investment banking and debt restructuring experience.

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