Texas budget bills heed call for biggest-ever property tax break

Texas lawmakers are moving ahead with a huge property tax cut thanks to a record budget surplus. The budget bills introduced last week by the Republican-controlled House and Senate include $15 billion in property tax cuts with the Senate version calling for increasing the homestead exemption to $70,000 from $40,000 at a cost to the state of $3 billion. Gov. Gregg Abbott pushed for property tax relief throughout his successful campaign for a third term.?

Check out our latest Rising Stars and the inaugural class of Muni Hall of Famers.

For Flint, Michigan, new machine-readable disclosure standards which have sparked controversy across the muni market represent a "quantum leap" for the city's finances, its chief financial officer said. "If you're asking me, it's about time that we modernize and digitize municipal financial reporting, especially if it brings about transparency and better governance in the end," Flint CFO Robert Widigan said.

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Roger Millar, AASHTO's new president and chief of Washington's Department of Transportation, joins Caitlin Devitt to talk about the rollout of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, how a tight labor market and inflation are impacting capital plans, what a divided Congress means for transportation and an update on the Pacific Northwest's high speed rail project.

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.

More than three years after Florida state lawmakers attempted to seize control of Miami-Dade County's toll road system, the county's voters weighed in with a big "no." By an almost four-to-one margin, they approved a charter amendment that requires voter approval for the commissioners to transfer ownership or governing authority of Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, Miami International Airport or PortMiami.

Registration is open for The Bond Buyer’s National Outlook conference Feb. 2 in New York.?

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has settled with three firms for failing to maintain a supervisory system in connection with 529 plan waivers in violation of MSRB Rule G-27 on supervision, but did not fine them due to the firms' "extraordinary cooperation."

Watch the acceptance speeches and look at some of the photos from our Deal of the Year event in New York City.?

Municipal credit analysis specialist John Ceffalio joined Chicago-based Northern Trust Asset Management to fill a newly created position as head of municipal client portfolio management that's within the firm's global fixed income group. Ceffalio left CreditSights for the new position,

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