MuniLand Snaps: May 25
Todd Park, the U.S.’s chief technology officer, calls for all “bad-ass” coders to serve a short stint in the federal government doing computer programming. Here is more from Techcrunch.
Happy Memorial Day!
Good Links
Reuters: State budgets spring new, smaller holes
Bond Buyer: When is a GO bond not a GO bond?
Marketplace Radio: How will California find a fair mix of spending cuts and tax increases? Radio interview with Governor Jerry Brown
MuniLand Snaps: May 24
Have a look inside “North America’s greenest hotel” to see how it’s been done using existing technologies. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports that Portland is No. 1 for bike commuting in the U.S., according to the 2010 Census.
Good Links
Governing: Being governor is great
Commonwealth of Massachusetts: May 2012 credit update and investor disclosure conference call
Muni Nation: Yield on the run
Bond Buyer: Indiana eyes a privatization spree
MuniLand Snaps: May 23
The Tax Foundation is reporting that the House of Representatives may take up H.R. 1864, the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act of 2011. The CBO describes the legislation as prohibiting states from taxing the income of employees who work in the state for fewer than 31 days. The prohibition would not apply to the income of professional athletes, entertainers or public figures.
Good Links
Senate Banking Committee: Internal staff memo on yesterday’s hearing on derivatives regulation
Reuters: U.S. cities wrestle with universities for cash
NCSL: State unemployment rates drop in April 2012
NABL: “Simply and plainly tell the whole credit story related to [newly issued] bonds”
MuniLand Snaps: May 21
There is a new movement afoot on the fringes of urban society called “depaving,” or removing asphalt from small urban areas to make green, community spaces.
Good Links
Senator Jim DeMint: Saying no to state bailouts
Bloomberg: Pennsylvania’s tax windfall from gaming leads the U.S.
LAT: Los Angeles among most financially distressed areas in U.S.
Reuters: U.S. municipal bond sales to total $9 billion next week
MuniLand Snaps: May 18
The Upstate New York public media blog Innovation Trail has a tour of the Rochester City Hall’s new green roof.
Good Links
National Law Review: More munis, more problems: Increased regulation of the municipal bond market
WSJ: On “general obligation” munis, investors advise caution
Reuters: U.S. muni bond inflows slow at $805 million
Janney Capital Markets: Fixed-income daily market commentary
MuniLand Snaps: May 17
The dirty side of consumption, or what happens to our trash? Hat tip: Boing Boing.
Good Links
ZeroHedge: That which is unsustainable will go away: Medicare
WSJ: Cities court bond investors with open meetings and more transparency
SEC: Statement regarding Commission approval of MSRB Rule G-17 Interpretive Notice
Davis Polk: SEC approves MSRB Interpretive Notice on municipal security underwriters
MuniLand Snaps: May 16
GovTech interviews some state and city chief information officers about their use of Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare and YouTube to change how government operates and interacts with citizens.
Good Links
NPR: 50 years of government spending, in one graph
Reuters: State income up in April, but may not be enough
Standard & Poor’s: California’s bigger fiscal-year 2013 budget gap increases pressure to adopt austerity
LA Times: Fitch on new California budget problems: Don’t panic
MuniLand Snaps: May 15
The Tax Foundation brings us a map showing that certain states have had much stronger increases in their percentage of wealthy taxpayers than others. North Dakota takes the top spot and is followed by other energy-rich states.
Good Links
St. Louis Fed: Map of failed banks – 2007 to present
Congressman Tom Reed: The Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2012
Learn Bonds: The safety of state bonds: A historical perspective
The Times-Picayune: Louisiana is the world’s prison capital
MuniLand Snaps: May 11
It’s National Train Day tomorrow, and Amtrak is riding the rails. All aboard!
Good Links
Reuters: Bernanke warns lawmakers on looming fiscal risks
USA Today: Study: Economic mobility depends on the state you live in
Bloomberg: States borrow to cover pension fund shortfalls
Bond Buyer: MSRB cites cases that show need for better dealer fair-dealing
MuniLand Snaps: May 10
Bob Nelson of Thomson Reuters Municipal Market Data and I, along with several others, went back and forth on Twitter about how public pension funds manage their investments. Nelson tweeted out the chart above comparing the investment returns for Calpers, the giant California public employee pension fund, with index returns for equities and fixed income. It looks as if Calpers has some very good returns.
Good Links
Moody’s: Austerity challenges the U.S. outlook
U.S. DOJ: From 2010 to 2011 the number of people in county and city jails (735,601) declined by 1.8 percent
WM Financial Strategies: Nice roundup of muniland regulatory issues
Bloomberg: Governments belatedly put pension deficits on their books
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