WASHINGTON — Michael Mundaca, the acting assistant secretary for tax policy in the Treasury Department, was officially nominated for the post by President Obama on Wednesday, a move that municipal market participants hope will speed up the release of much-awaited guidance for several bond programs.
Although the Senate must still confirm him, market participants yesterday said they hope the nomination will help push forward guidance, particularly for the temporary programs authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“I think it’s an important position, and I think it’s in everybody’s interest to have it filled,” said Frederic Ballard Jr., a partner at Ballard Spahr LLP.
“This nomination will be important for a number of high-priority projects,” said Jeremy Spector, a partner at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo PC. “Many of these programs ... will be expiring at the end of 2010, so the release of quick guidance on some of these programs will be very useful and appreciated.”
“This is a very important time in public finance,” said Victoria “Penny” Rostow, the governmental affairs director for the National Association of Bond Lawyers. “I’m glad that Secretary [Timothy] Geithner’s finally able to move forward because there’s a very big agenda.”
The guidance includes how tax credits can be “stripped” from tax-credit bonds and sold separately, more details on the new Build America Bonds program, as well as the definition of issue price.
Mundaca, if confirmed, will be joined at the Treasury by Emily McMahon, who has been named deputy assistant secretary for tax policy. She will come to Treasury from the Joint Committee on Taxation, where she was deputy chief of staff.
Mundaca’s nomination comes as the Obama administration has tried for most of this year to fill the assistant secretary position. In March, Helen Elizabeth Garett, a lawyer, tax expert, and then vice president for academic planning and budget at the University of Southern California, previously was tapped for the position. But in June, she withdrew her name from consideration, citing personal reasons.
Prior to the nomination, Mundaca was senior adviser for policy within the Treasury’s office of tax policy. In recent months he was acting assistant secretary for tax policy. Previously, he was deputy assistant secretary for international tax affairs. He also served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the Treasury from 1995 to 2002, at which time he handled international tax and electronic commerce matters.
In between Treasury stints, he was a partner with Ernst & Young LLP here. He earned an LL.M. in taxation from the University of Miami and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to his legal training, he earned a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Chicago, and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and physics from Columbia University.
