00:00Ashna, $12 billion out of how much was proposed?
00:03Yeah, so we had about $16 billion on the ballots this year, and that is a smaller amount compared to last year during the presidential election.
00:10We had about $80 billion then, but, you know, it's an off-cycle election year, so it's pretty normal.
00:15So what were some of the more notable proposals on the ballots?
00:17So there was an interesting one coming out of Denver, Colorado.
00:20We had a $950 million bond package there, and so that did get approved by voters,
00:26and so the city will use those funds to, you know, do different infrastructure projects, fix gardens, add new cultural centers.
00:33And I was actually talking with the mayor of Denver earlier this week,
00:36and he was saying that this vote was especially important as federal funding falls and, you know, there's economic uncertainty.
00:42This way, with the funding, Denver can carry out any sort of critical infrastructure needs that they have.
00:48So how does this fit into the overall picture for muni markets right now?
00:52I know this is a market that's driven by seasonal factors, and the elections are kind of a once-every-year event that can disrupt a lot of that.
00:59Well, it's interesting because this year we've seen a ton of supply.
01:03We've had heavy supply weeks, and we've had municipalities, airports, transportation agencies all tapping the bond markets for huge deals.
01:10And so we've seen we're hitting towards a record supply year, and supply is up almost 13 percent from this same time period before.
01:19So we're seeing that there's a huge need for infrastructure investment right now across the country.
01:23As you look ahead to what you'll be covering for the rest of the year, what are some themes that jump out at you in the muni market?
01:29Well, it's going to be really interesting to cover, you know, the different airports and transit agencies, airports as might be.
01:34And so seeing how they continue carrying out these infrastructure investments, seeing how schools, different transit agencies, hospital systems, you know, they, you know, carry out these projects and use these bonds.
01:46Are these kinds of proposals usually approved by voters?
01:49Yeah, they are pretty much approved.
01:52But this time it was interesting.
01:53I was talking to an analyst, and he was saying that the macroeconomic changes, financial uncertainty might be top of mind for these voters.
01:59And so he was a little bit hesitant, but so it was surprising to see $12 billion get approved.
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