Naomi Jagoda

Consumer credit increased by $17.2 billion, or 6.5%, in June to $3.211 trillion, the Federal Reserve reported Thursday.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that tax-exempt governmental bonds will result in revenue losses to the federal government of $179.6 billion from fiscal years 2014 through 2018

The National Association of Water Companies wants the Treasury Department to clarify tax rules so that state and local governments can ensure the tax-exempt bonds they used to finance their water and wastewater facilities will not become taxable if they enter into public-private partnerships.

The Treasury Department's new Office of State and Local Finance is adding a senior policy advisor focused on public sector pensions, the office's director, Kent Hiteshew said Monday.

A slew of bond-related bills was introduced in the House and Senate in the last few days before members of Congress left town to begin their five-week recess.

A bill introduced in the House last week would allow more issuers to be able to issue bank-qualified bonds.

The money that retirees spend from the payments they receive from defined benefit pension plans supports jobs and economic activity, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Institute on Retirement Security.

While Moody's Investors Service gives the states sector a stable outlook, some states are in better shape than others, rating agency analysts said in a conference call Tuesday.

Using bond proceeds to construct a university athletic facility at a revised location will not cause the bonds to fail to meet public notice and approval requirements, the Internal Revenue Service ruled.

An independent accountant hired by the Long Beach Community College District in California has estimated that the district may have to pay about $1.73 million to settle with the Internal Revenue Service under the agency's voluntary closing agreement program, an issuer official said.

Some issuers are redeeming their Build America Bonds even as there is uncertainty over how the reissuance rules apply to the bonds, bond lawyers said.

Internal Revenue Service agents have been raising concerns during audits about tax-exempt bond proceeds that were unspent or weren't spent in a timely manner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe tax partner Richard Chirls said Wednesday.

Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., earlier this month introduced a disaster tax relief bill in the House that includes several bond provisions and is similar to legislation introduced earlier this year in the Senate.

Existing home sales rose 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted 5.04 million-unit rate in June from a revised 4.91 million pace the previous month, the National Association of Realtors announced Tuesday.

Issuance of private-activity bonds subject to state volume caps declined in 2013 for the third straight year, as PABs face competition from other financing tools, according to an annual survey and market participants.

Industrial production rose 0.2% in June, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

Janney Capital Markets is concerned that Standard & Poor's ratings for some local governments may be too high and out of step with current credit conditions.

The federal government ran a $70.5 billion budget surplus in June, the Treasury reported Friday.

Triple-A rated Maryland later this month will sell about $900 million of general obligation bonds, including up to $100 million of them during its first retail order period since August 2012. The retail period will be held on July 18 and 21.

The Long Beach Community College District in California is seeking a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service because of a private-activity bond problem with bonds it issued in 2008.