Fed’s Muni Facility Leaves States Charting Tricky Path to Access

As pandemic-plagued state and local economies start to feel the effects of vanishing tax revenue, officials like Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar are trying to figure out how to build the mechanisms that can get cash from the U.S. central bank to all the places in need.

The Federal Reserve has launched an array of emergency lending facilities to help the U.S. economy during the virus lock-down, including one for municipalities that could support up to $500 billion of assistance to states and big cities. But the rules are strict: only cities with a population of more than one million, or ...