The Muni Lowdown

Laura L. Mayfield, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager on the Fort Washington Investment Advisors, Inc. Securitized Products desk joins Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Journalist Kunal Kamal to discuss ABS stress and municipal revenues.In this episode, we delve into whether asset-backed securities (ABS) offer an early warning system for shifts in the broader economy.We examine emerging stress signals across consumer securitizations, dig into the rapid rise of data center ABS and assess the material risks tied to power constraints, leverage, and AI-driven capital demands.We also explore what all of this means for municipalities that depend on various taxes, utility revenues and economic development incentives tied to these sectors and whether local governments are prepared for the opportunities and vulnerabilities ahead.

Managing Editor Paul Greaves, Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani and Head of Public Policy and Municipal Strategy Tom Kozlik at Hilltop Securities discuss how federal policy and artificial intelligence are reshaping the municipal market. This episode dives into the evolving dynamics of municipal finance in the face of shifting federal funding and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). We explore whether federal dollars act as a stabilizer or a source of uncertainty for investors and examine sectors facing structural challenges—like higher education—that amplify these funding shifts. Our conversation also looks at how declining federal support impacts municipal bond supply and demand. Then, we pivot to AI: why it’s not just a tech story but a public finance story, how it could reshape infrastructure investment, and the opportunities and risks it creates for municipalities. Finally, we discuss the race between AI adoption and energy infrastructure readiness—and what that means for local governments and investors.

The latest Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast features Managing Editor Paul Greaves discussing state funding of disasters with Peter Muller, Senior Officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts and Journalist Kunal Kamal.Peter was one of the lead authors for the recently published issue brief by Pew entitled "What Waning Federal Disaster Aid Would Mean for State Budgets."The podcast begins with Peter discussing the impetus for this issue brief.The discussion shifts to the following topics:The exclusion of the US territories from this analysis.Highlighting how federal disaster aid can rival or exceed some states’ reserves in major disaster years and the ability of states to withstand repeated disasters.The headwinds faced by states due to FEMA denials rising sharply in 2025 and slower rollout of disaster aid.Discussing whether there is an appropriate risk-sharing model between the federal, state and local governments.Whether states create/maintain a standalone disaster reserve.Examining whether certain states are more or less prepared to face a scenario of significantly reduced federal support?

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 operationsUtility 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

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Cooper Howard, fixed income strategist at Charles Schwab about federal policy and the muni market.Cooper provides his thoughts on the “question marks” surrounding federal policy initiatives on the municipal market such as tariffs.The discussion shifts to Cooper highlighting municipal sectors most sensitive to federal policy shifts.Cooper segues the discussion into the potential hurdles that private higher education may have to overcome.The podcast closes with Cooper discussing what municipal credits may consider to maintain credit quality despite the numerous challenges.#federalpolicy #tariffs #inflation #muniland #highereducation #ports

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak to Cybersecurity Content Specialist Bradley Barth about municipal bond issuers grappling with cyberattacksBradley provides his thoughts on whether in-house expertise is enough or if security programs necessitate collaboration with a third-party vendor.The discussion shifts to Bradley highlighting the potential advantages/disadvantages to working with a third-party vendor.Bradley then segues into whether an organization’s vulnerability is correlated with the size, sector or ability of the municipal bond issuer to afford cybersecurity expertise.Bradley moves on to identify the different types of cyberattacks and whether victims should pay.Bradley discloses “best practices” for a municipal bond issuer around incident response and the quality of public disclosures.The podcast closes with Bradley discussing his thoughts on the potential efficacy of implementing a federal data breach law.#cybersecurity #ransomware #databreaches #muniland #cyberattacks

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Debtwire North America Credit Analyst John Sinna on the latest developments with Hawaiian Electric and Edison International.The podcast covers the situations in the aftermath of wildfires for Hawaiian Electric and Edison International by “comparing and contrasting” where things stand by delving into five (5) topics.The first topic discussed is how governance has been handled in each situation. John discusses the actions taken by Hawaii Governor Josh Green and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.The second topic discusses legislative efforts in Hawaii and California.The third topic details the litigation against Hawaiian Electric and Edison International because of the wildfire damages.With the fourth topic, John segues into possible responses by the insurance market from a national perspective as well as specifically in Hawaii and California.The podcast closes with John discussing his near-term expectations in each situation.#insurance #power #IOUs #muniland #risk

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Senior Research Analyst Dr. Erika Smull of Breckinridge Capital Advisors on pricing climate risk.Dr. Smull initiates the discussion by explaining the concept of “benchmark aware” in the context of municipal bond investment strategies.The conversation shifts to the resiliency of the municipal market in the face of catastrophic weather events and the availability of quality information to make climate risk assessments.Dr. Smull transitions to the role supply and credit quality, as well as whether private insurance and federal disaster aid will remain as readily available moving forward.Dr. Smull discusses the current state of climate risk disclosure.The discussion turns to an example of “climate induced stress” in detailing the events of Clyde, TX.The podcast closes with Dr. Smull discussing whether the market is getting closer to a climate risk premium and how Breckinridge assesses climate risk.#climaterisk #muniland #pricingrisk #riskpremium #catastrophicevents

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani speak with Andrew Flynn, managing director of California Municipal Advisors about the municipal market.Andrew provides a brief overview of his role as a municipal advisor.The discussion shifts to Andrew sharing his “tree analogy” that explains his financial advisory approach with public sector clients.Andrew then segues into his view of muni market health now and what level of concern he has around the increasing frequency and intensity of climate risk events.The conversation turns to Andrew’s perspective on the recent ratings actions by S&P Global Ratings with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.Andrew transitions into how he advises his public sector clients to contemplate and address pension fund liabilities.The podcast closes with Andrew offering his contrarian perspective on challenges that “places of growth” (California, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, etc.) will face during an economic downturn.#muniland #climaterisk #pensions #economy #municipaladvisors

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Senior Reporter Simone Baribeau on the performance of proton therapy centers backed by municipal bonds.Simone provides a brief overview proton therapy technology. She then delves into the advantages and disadvantages of proton therapy vs traditional radiation.The discussion shifts to Paul highlighting the major hurdles to success for proton therapy centers: technology; viability and reimbursement.Simone then segues towards the defaults and bankruptcies that have occurred due to the intrinsic challenges to developing successful proton therapy center operations. The conversation shifts towards selected proton therapy centers around the country.Simone transitions to the action states have taken to address reimbursement hurdles.The podcast closes with Simone providing quick updates on certain proton therapy centers in the construction pipeline across the country.

On the latest episode of the Debtwire Municipals Muni Lowdown podcast, Managing Editor Paul Greaves speaks with Head of Muni Research Greg Clark and Curation Editor Stephanie Fagnani about the evolving evaluation of wildfire risk and municipal bonds.Stephanie kicks off the podcast by providing a report on the extent of the damage, the initial cost estimates and the current status as it remains an ongoing situation.The discussion shifts to Paul providing observations by market participants on how risk assessments for municipal could change in wildfire zones and what makes California a unique situation.The podcast closes with a segue to Greg who provides a comprehensive overview of how various municipal bond sectors are impacted by just having to navigate wildfire damage, as well as the insurer and government received. He then provides a concise definition of why lease revenue bonds and similar structures could face additional risk, as it is a borrowing tool frequently used by local governments in California, as well as the state.