Far West

Calls for the elimination of tax-exempt interest could seriously disrupt the municipal bond market, while incremental action to rein in the tax-exempt interest cost to the federal government is more likely than an all-out end to munis, market observers with the Bond Dealers of America said Monday.

The agency that runs the long-struggling San Joaquin Hills toll road in California is asking for a nod from bondholders to restructure its debt portfolio to stay afloat.

With federal financial regulators scrutinizing Rhode Island's bond offerings and pension disclosures, the state has hired disclosure counsel to review its practices and pave the way to issuing new bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has closed its audit of $308 million of variable-rate bonds issued by Murray City, Utah, in a 2003 conduit health care transaction without any change to the bonds’ tax-exempt status.

Sen. John D. Rockefeller, D-W.Va., has introduced legislation to extend stimulus law authorizations for qualified zone academy bonds and qualified school construction bonds through 2015 and allow the debt to be issued with federal payments to issuers.

SAN FRANCISCO — Alaska’s governor and lawmakers are at loggerheads over a proposed budget, except unlike in most other states, this debate is over what to do with extra cash.

WASHINGTON — A bill by House Republicans that would delay implementation of derivatives rules has sparked a firestorm of controversy, with officials and lawmakers trading jabs over the pace of regulatory reform.

WASHINGTON — Rep. John Tierney, D-Mass., plans to soon introduce a bill that would require all new munis to be taxable direct-pay bonds with a 25% federal subsidy rate — a proposal drawing a frosty reception from issuers and underwriters.

Two Federal Reserve economists are refuting claims by some analysts that the muni market is headed for several billion dollars in defaults, calling the projections overblown and out of sync with past recessions.

At a meeting in Nashville last week, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board voted to further amend a proposed rule that would prohibit dealer-financial advisers from switching roles and acting as an underwriter and muni adviser on the same transaction.