US voters signed off on at least $44 billion of local-government debt sales on ballots across the country during this year’s midterm elections.
The approvals bring the passage rate to roughly 83% of the $53 billion in proposed bond referendums that have results available so far, according to a Bloomberg analysis of a preliminary tally by S&P Global Market Intelligence. That excludes proposed borrowings for Texas’s utility and water districts. Nearly $15 billion of measures were still pending as of Monday.
With a majority of measures slated to pass, the $4 trillion municipal bond market looks set to absorb a wave of new issuance as states and cities borrow for infrastructure projects, particularly for schools. Bonds to fund schools made up the largest chunk of this year’s biggest ballot measures.
Bloomberg Markets
By Nic Querolo
November 14, 2022