Washington

Gasoline tax revenues are not a reliable long-term source for financing transportation infrastructure, Pew Charitable Trusts said in new report.

Crystal City, Texas has reached an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to settle tax rule violations and preserve the tax-exempt status of interest already paid on $13.94 million of jail bonds issued by an authority in 2003 and now in default.

Partnerships between governmental or nonprofit entities and private entities should be treated favorably under private-activity bond and 501(c)(3) bond rules, the National Association of Bond Lawyers argued.

The Village Center Community Development District in Florida, whose status as a political subdivision that can issue tax-exempt bonds has been disputed, is planning to price three issues of taxable refunding bonds next week.

A federal appeals court recently agreed with a lower court that former Miami budget director Michael Boudreaux does not have immunity from Securities and Exchange Commission charges, a decision some experts think could have implications for the SEC's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative or other enforcement actions going forward.

A federal banking rule that doesn't classify municipal bonds as high-quality liquid assets needs to be reworked to ensure it won't impede critical infrastructure development, Sen. Chuck Schumer told regulators on Tuesday.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers has many ongoing projects, including completing an analysis of the long-term implications of a self-reporting disclosure enforcement program, commenting on the SEC's 2012 municipal market report, and providing regulators with its views on tax issues, said its incoming president Antonio "Tony" Martini.

Two ex-JPMorgan bankers shouldn't be allowed to give statements six years after taking the Fifth Amendment in the Jefferson County, Ala., sewer bond and swap case, the SEC says.

Proposed legislation in the House would cut Amtrak's funding by 40% and redirect passenger-line profits to Northeast capital projects.

A Treasury Department official, a former Federal Reserve Board chair, congressional staffers and state treasurers spoke at an industry-sponsored municipal securities conference on Thursday that was closed to the press.

A large number of dealer firms have voluntarily reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission deals they underwrote where issuers failed to disclose noncompliance with their continuing disclosure agreements, the SEC's enforcement director said Wednesday.

The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee has introduced legislation that would continue funding government programs and services until Dec. 11, preventing a federal government shutdown before the midterm elections.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has hired former BondDesk Trading LLC president John Bagley as its chief market structure officer, the MSRB announced Wednesday.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, calling municipal securities the "lifeblood" of U.S. infrastructure development, pressed regulators to revise federal banking liquidity rules to classify certain munis as high-quality liquid assets.

A recent announcement that Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle will end one of its contracts in 2016 poses certain credit risks, but has no immediate impact on its ratings, according to Standard & Poor's.

The Municipal Advisory Council of Texas is allowing issuers to post their IRMA representations on its website to help obtain information from financial services firms without violating Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal advisor rule.

Recent rulings from Washington State's Supreme Court to allow reforms of pension benefits are a credit positive for the state and local governments, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Texas voters will decide in November on a constitutional amendment that could boost state highway spending by $1.7 billion a year.

The Treasury Department's 2014-2015 priority guidance plan includes new projects to both update guidance on management contracts that impact private-activity bonds, and ensure PAB rules don't conflict with a new type of arrangement promoted by President Obama's health care reform law.

Municipal securities will not qualify as high-quality liquid assets under a new federal liquidity coverage ratio rule slated to take effect on Jan. 1. However, the Federal Reserve Board is working on a proposal to include some municipal bonds as HQLA at a later date.