Washington

It is not time to panic despite the struggle of Detroit bondholders to regain their money, representatives of the four largest bond rating agencies told state treasurers Thursday.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $23.83 million of Series 2007 variable rate demand bonds issued by the Colorado Health Facilities Authority.

The Senate Finance Committee's top Republican said Wednesday that the bankruptcy judge's ruling Tuesday that Detroit's public pension funds could be subject to cuts is a wakeup call for Congress to consider his pension bill.

Moody's Investors Service raised its outlook on the toll road industry to stable from negative as toll revenues continue a slow but steady recovery.

For the first time in five years, Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook for U.S. local governments to stable from negative, as housing markets continue to stabilize, municipalities' fund balances remain healthy and cities and school districts control their costs.

Twenty of the 52 initiatives outlined in the District of Columbia's five-year economic development strategy have been completed during the first year of its implementation, though bond and infrastructure-bank initiatives have yet to be completed, district officials announced Tuesday.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., will introduce a bill phasing in a 15 cent increase in the federal gasoline tax, currently at 18.4 cents per gallon.

Standard & Poor's has upgraded the Washington cities of Kent and Centralia to AA-minus ratings from A-plus.

A House committee chairman made clear at a hearing on Monday that it may take Congress years to determine whether to amend a nearly 100-year-old law to allow the District of Columbia to raise the heights of some buildings to accommodate increased growth and obtain more tax revenue.

The merger of American Airlines and US Airways Group can proceed as scheduled after a federal bankruptcy judge's clearance of the airlines' federal anti-trust settlement.

An arrangement in which an authority issued bonds to finance facilities that are leased to a state would not cause the bonds to be private-activity bonds, according to a recent IRS private letter ruling.

Crowded terminals will become more common unless U.S. airports are able to fund the additional infrastructure needed to meet growing passenger demand.

Congressional committee leaders have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder expressing concerns that the proposed settlement agreement with US Airways and American Airlines might hurt less populated and rural areas.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the rating on the Port of Seattle's intermediate and subordinate revenue bonds ahead of its $140 million refunding deal.

The National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors has sent an open letter to Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White insisting the municipal advisor rule the SEC adopted in September will not restrict the flow of information between issuers and other parties to a bond deal.

Without a labor contract extension, Boeing could pursue out-of-state production locations, which would be a credit negative for Washington State and the Puget Sound region, Moody's Investors Service said.

A coalition of local leaders is asking Congress to generate an additional $30 billion a year for transportation efforts by almost doubling the federal gasoline tax.

A federal interagency task force, created to advise the Puerto Rican government on fiscal and economic matters, will meet with Puerto Rican officials next month, but will not provide any additional financial assistance, knowledgeable sources said.

Puerto Rico's pension funded ratio of 8.4% for 2012 was far worse than any of the 50 states, Morningstar, Inc., said in pension reports for 23 individual states and the territory it released on Wednesday.

Vice President Joe Biden used a visit to the Port of Houston to renew the Obama administration's proposal for a $50 billion infrastructure renewal program.