Far West

WASHINGTON — Financial regulatory reform legislation that House and Senate lawmakers hope will be ready for President Obama's signature at the end of the week is expected to authorize sweeping changes to the way the municipal market is regulated.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last week ruled in favor of Prince George's County, Md., and its 2008 plan to furlough about 5,900 workers, overturning a lower federal court ruling and restoring a savings opportunity for the triple-A rated county.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that “honest services” fraud — a criminal statute that has been used to prosecute wrongdoing in the municipal market — is limited to bribery and kickback schemes.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Officials in the Los Angeles area say momentum is building behind a plan to accelerate construction of multiple transit projects — a plan that would require as-yet-uncreated forms of federal financial support.

WASHINGTON — Military housing bond issuers should keep an eye on Build America Bonds as likely competition as they attempt to reclaim a spot in the bond market — and the military may have a need for $25 billion of new housing debt in the future, panelists said yesterday at The Bond Buyer's Fifth Annual Financing Military Housing Privatization Conference.

WASHINGTON — Proposed extensions to major bond provisions have survived several revisions of pending tax legislation, but municipal market participants are wondering if more controversial, non-bond provisions could scuttle the entire package.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board launched a redesigned website this week with new content and features, better navigation, and a contemporary style that aims to provide improved access to information about MSRB rules, market disclosures, and data collected and disseminated by the board.

WASHINGTON — At least $300 million in funding to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for its 2011 fiscal year budget is at risk over a dispute between Northern Virginia municipalities and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell over his request to appoint half of Virginia's share of the WMATA board of directors.

WASHINGTON — The inclusion of a free, real-time feed of municipal bond ratings on the Electronic Municipal Market Access system has long been a goal of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, which operates the disclosure and transparency portal.

The two Democrats leading the House-Senate conference working to hammer out a single financial regulatory reform bill stressed yesterday that conferees need to wrap up their work by tomorrow to ensure passage of the bill through each chamber next week, before lawmakers break for the July 4 recess.