Far West

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association announced that it has developed model sophisticated municipal market professional, or SMMP, documentation to allow firms to comply with muni rules when dealing with investors who need less regulatory protection.

Washington's Multicare Health System received AA-minus ratings with a stable outlook from two rating agencies ahead of plans to price $88 million of new money and a $274 million refunding bonds.

The Department of Transportation is soliciting applications from public entities for $500 million of grants to help finance transportation projects across the country and will hold the first of four webinars on the application process on Wednesday.

The Internal Revenue Service has granted a school district that experienced "financial distress" a roughly 16-month extension to spend the proceeds of its qualified school construction bonds.

The federal government will run out of money for transportation and other infrastructure projects in late July or August, roughly two months later than expected, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said Thursday.

The municipal advisory business has exploded over the past 30 years, as economic, regulatory, and technological developments have combined to create a bigger business that is increasingly dominated by firms focused mostly on MA services.

California Governor Jerry Brown ratcheted up water restrictions on Wednesday to deal with the state's ongoing drought.

The American Public Power Association has told the Treasury Department that it supports proposals in President Obama's fiscal 2016 budget that would simplify federal tax law pertaining to municipal bonds and would like the department to take further efforts to simplify private business use rules.

Los Angeles city leaders announced renewed efforts to improve the city’s miles of crumbling sidewalks in conjunction with a settlement in a case brought under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The municipal bond market will have an ally in the top echelon of Senate leadership if Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., becomes the Senate Democratic leader in 2017, as is widely expected, tax and municipal bond experts said.