Washington

Airports may someday face competition from high-speed rail, but that's not a sure thing yet, Kroll Bond Rating Agency said in a new report on rating methodology for general airport revenue bonds.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed a new rule with the Securities and Exchange Commission to implement an annual fee of $300 for each municipal advisor professional that is to be paid by registered municipal advisors.

Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority will complete funding of a rail line to Dulles International Airport with May's negotiated sale of $450 million of toll revenue bonds.

A new office at the U.S. Treasury Department will focus on state and local finance issues, including distressed municipalities and their management of pensions and other liabilities.

The District of Columbia's new chief financial officer will likely oversee the issuance of more than $1 billion of bonds in fiscal 2015 and hopes to develop a plan that assesses D.C.'s capital challenges and how best to meet them over the long term.

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission is helping victims displaced by the recent mudslide by speeding up the process of applying for housing.

Tender option bond market participants have two options available to keep those programs viable under the Volcker Rule, though neither is without risk or likely to please everybody with an interest in TOBs.

States that pull back on their cost-cutting measures in response to improving economic conditions could harm their credit, but local governments are in good shape thanks to a housing market recovery, according to a new report from Standard & Poor's.

Energy Northwest is planning to sell $647 million next week to fund capital projects at its nuclear power plant and to refund outstanding debt.

Rep. Paul Ryan's proposed fiscal 2015 budget "takes a bipartisan jackhammer" to transportation funding, said Rep. Nick Rahall, the top Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee.

Three convicted bid-riggers filed documents with a federal appeals court this week arguing that their convictions should be overturned because of several errors by the lower court.

Small financial advisory firms face the most challenges adapting to the new rules and regulations governing municipal advisors, with some predicting that many of the smallest MAs will go out of business.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Ron Wyden has proposed a bill to extend roughly 47 expired and expiring tax provisions, including four relating to bonds, governments, and Puerto Rico. Sens. Wyden and Orrin Hatch, the top Republican on the committee, have scheduled a vote on the proposed extender legislation for Thursday.

A new study projects that Puerto Rico could receive billions of additional federal dollars if it became a state, information that some observers said could inject new life into the statehood debate on the financially troubled island.

For yet another year, uncertainty surrounding the potential loss or cap of the municipal tax exemption concerned panelists at the National Municipal Bond Summit.

A Treasury Department official told bond lawyers to view the municipal bond provisions in House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp's tax reform plan as a "scorecard of revenue offsets" that can be used in other tax proposals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's new program to encourage self-reporting of a specific continuing disclosure violation is facing some skepticism from bond lawyers even as one SEC attorney said it may eventually be expanded to cover other violations.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board unanimously voted not to delay the implementation of new reporting requirements for governments that provide their employees with pensions, after the Government Finance Officers Association and other groups pressed for a postponement.

Municipal bonds are a better option than P3s for water utilities, an environmental advocate told a special House P3 panel Tuesday.