The Muni Lowdown

The latest Muni Lowdown podcast features Senior Policy Analyst Javier Balmaceda of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Senior Reporter Simone Baribeau discussing PREPA's bankruptcy proceedings with Managing Editor Paul Greaves.

Simone initiates the discussion with an overview of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority's (PREPA) and current status.

Javier moves the dialogue towards the following issues:

• PREPA operations
• Utility privatization (including the latest with New Fortress Energy and LUMA Energy).
• The affordability of rate hikes

The podcast closes with Javier providing a view on the perspective of island residents and customers.

The latest Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast features Managing Editor Paul Greaves discussing public pensions with Justin Marlowe, Professor at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani.

Justin begins the podcast by providing a brief overview of challenges faced by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) over the decade and how it connects to the current situation with CPS.

Justin follows up with an analysis of why, despite its troubled history, why CPS bond trading has experienced surprisingly little negative impact and whether there exists potential for deterioration moving forward.

Justin segues the discussion into CPS’ perpetually underfunded pension liability and whether that presents a significant problem moving forward.

The conversation shifts into a comparison of the factors that led the City of Detroit to file for municipal bankruptcy versus the current hurdles that Chicago must overcome.

Justin concludes with thoughts on why despite Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s labor union background, the relationship between the city’s teacher’s union and the city remains strained.

This Muni Lowdown podcast features Managing Editor Paul Greaves discussing public pensions with Jean-Pierre Aubry, associate director of research at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani.

Jean-Pierre kicks off the podcast explaining the center’s Public Plans Database that is leveraged to analyze plans.

The conversation shifts to discussing the key takeaways from the research brief that Jean-Pierre served as the lead author for entitled The Funded Status of Public Plans Keeps Improving – Albeit Modestly.

Jean-Pierre segues into why any improvements to funded ratios going forward will be at best, modest.

Jean-Pierre transitions into discussing why the increasing share of new hires are important in understanding the cost side of the equation for public pension plans.

Jean-Pierre concludes with thoughts on the challenges to developing and/or maintaining a fiscally sound pension plan.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Reporter Kunal Kamal speak with John Miller, Head and Chief Investment Officer of the Municipal Credit Team at First Eagle Investments.

John has had a front-row seat to the municipal market for over three decades. The discussion starts with John by sharing a couple of key principles that have guided him through previous periods of uncertainty in the market.

The discussion segues into the performance of the First Eagle High Yield Municipal Fund since its inception in the January 2024 and YTD 2025.

The conversation shifts to one of First Eagle’s top holdings, Brightline. It has had a complex credit journey, including the deferred interest payment announcement, rating downgrades, but improving performance. Given that backdrop, John provides his current investment thesis for Brightline, as well as highlighting risks and opportunities looking ahead.

The podcast concludes with John discussing investment considerations in the high yield/unrated municipal market.

#highyieldmunis #municipalmarket #Brightline #muniland

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Reporters Kunal Kamal and Simone Baribeau about the high-speed rail project Brightline Florida.

Kunal starts with a breakdown of Brightline’s capital structure.

The discussion segues into Kunal providing background on the July bond interest payment deferral and what’s next on the refinancing calendar.

Kunal then explains what is a “soft, mandatory tender.”

Kunal concludes his comments by detailing the challenges faced by Brightline’s underlying business, ridership and revenue expectations.

The conversation shifts to Simone reporting back on her experience taking Brightline from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and traveling back on the route with a potential competitor in Tri-Rail.

The podcast concludes with Simone discussing whether Tri-Rail is a competitive threat and potential factors that could impact Brightline’s ridership numbers.

#highspeedrail #Brightline #muniland #projectfinance #highyield

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Karel Citroen, managing director of municipal research at Conning about state credit quality.

Karel starts with an overview of the report methodology.

The discussion then shifts to the fiscal resilience of states and whether potential federal funding shifts could increase credit risk. The conversation segues into Karel discussing the states that could face pronounced challenges if federal funding is reduced.

Karel provides the rationale behind the inclusion of two new metrics: cost of living index and catastrophe losses per capita.

The discussion moves towards a discussion of the coastal and wildfire-prone states that face a disproportionate financial burden due to physical climate risk.

Karel provides his perspective on the decision by the federal government to cease maintaining the billion-dollar disaster database.

The conversation continues with the factors behind the population growth in the Northeast.

The podcast concludes with Karel detailing the key factors to understanding tax revenue and income levels.

#stateofthestates #creditquality #costofliving #physicalclimaterisk #muniland

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Jennifer Johnston, Director of Municipal Bond Research at Franklin Templeton about the outlook for higher education.

Jennifer starts the podcast with an overview on the importance of governance and management team and how a key person vacancy, like the president, can impact credit.

The discussion shifts to an acknowledgment that federal pressures are hitting different schools in different ways and how does a school continue to attract and retain quality students while balancing their budget.

Jennifer shares her thoughts on whether the outcome of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act signals an end to the muni tax exemption removal threat.

Jennifer provides her thoughts on the importance of flexibility in navigating the uncertain environment faced by higher ed institutions.

The conversation moves to highlighting factors that could impact enrollment.

Jennifer discusses the fundraising environment moving forward.

Jennifer shares thoughts on whether we’ll see students gravitate towards universities abroad.

The podcast closes with Jennifer discussing what universities can do to grapple with high borrowing costs or reduced investment earnings due to endowment taxes.

#higher education #enrollment #federalpolicy #endowmenttaxes #muniland #municipalmarket

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Reporter Kunal Kamal speak with Dora Lee, Director of Research at Belle Haven Investments about the outlook for the municipal market.

Dora starts the podcast with an overview of Belle Haven’s investment strategy during this current period of uncertainty in the municipal market.

The discussion shifts to Dora examining the likelihood of the capping or elimination of the muni tax exemption.

Dora then segues into ongoing federal policy shifts and the potential consequences.

Dora provides her thoughts on whether bond pricing is fully capturing burgeoning risks such as cybersecurity and climate change.

The podcast closes with Dora providing her views on the adequacy of disclosure by municipal issuers.

#federalpolicy #tariffs #climaterisk #muniland #bondpricing #municipalmarket

On the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Jon Porter, senior vice president and chief meteorologist for AccuWeather about building infrastructure climate resilience.

Jon discusses the narrowing time gap between billion-dollar disasters historically compared to now. Additionally, Jon provides some comments on storms happening outside of when they’re expected.

The conversation shifts to Jon highlighting that storms have always had landfall inland but that there’s much more media coverage.

Jon segues into relaying his perspective on the unique nature of every storm.

Jon focuses his next comments on the important role of utilities and why they can’t afford to be down for any extended period. Jon uses this opportunity to highlight the best practices that utilities can employ.

The podcast closes with Jon discussing his thoughts on building climate resilience through strong communication between stakeholders. The goal being to leverage ongoing opportunities to increase and prioritize resilience efforts.

#climaterisk #climateresilience #weather #infrastructure #meteorology

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves talks with the Head of Securitized Products Research and Strategy at Academy Securities, Dr. Stav Gaon, about stadium securitizations.

Debtwire ABS Editorial Director Eric Homer and Reporter Kunal Kamal also join the podcast.

Dr. Gaon provides an overview of asset-backed securities (ABS) and how they typically work.

The discussion shifts to Dr. Gaon highlighting the growing interest in sports securitizations.

The dialogue segues into Dr. Gaon explaining how stadium financing is different than other types of asset-backed securitizations.

Dr. Gaon follows with a comparison of stadium securitization to municipal bond financing for stadiums.

The conversation moves to Dr. Gaon outlining the risks involved with stadium securitization.

Dr. Gaon details the key players involved in a stadium securitization deal.

The podcast closes with Dr. Gaon discussing aspects of certain ongoing stadium securitization