Washington

The $1.2 trillion in automatic, across-the-board spending cuts that went into effect in March will have a low to moderate impact on public finance housing bond issuers, a new Moody's Investor Service report said Tuesday.

Contracts between dealer firms and public officials show that dealers are engaging in wordplay in an apparent attempt to avoid duties and restrictions placed on them by both federal statute and MSRB rulemaking.

Pensions are expected to pose a continued, and in some cases, rising source of budgetary pressure for local governments, a new Fitch Ratings report found.

Former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on Monday to serve as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The IRS is auditing $10.24M of bonds issued by the town of Castle Rock, Colo., in 2008.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will hold an on-the-record briefing about municipal securities at a National Press Club luncheon on May 8 to attempt to educate a wider audience of journalists about the municipal market.

A new study released by the Federal Railroad Administration lays out numerous diverse options for high-speed rail investment in the nation's heavily-populated Northeast corridor.

The number and scope of investment projects will decrease for state and local governments if a federal limit is placed on tax-exemption for municipal bonds, the National League of Cities warned in a survey released Thursday.

Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., has introduced legislation that would make $1 billion available for federal transportation grants.

The Virginia Port Authority's decision not to pursue a public-private partnership could have a negative impact on other potential port privatization deals, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings.

NABL is urging Treasury and the IRS to provide guidance ensuring that tax-exempt private-activity bonds don’t become taxable if the issuing governments and nonprofit hospitals take steps to implement President Obama’s health care reform law.

Standard & Poor's announced Thursday evening it has upgraded the District of Columbia's general obligation bonds to AA- from A+.

One of the options presented by the Senate Finance Committee to simplify the tax code is to repeal the alternative minimum tax, which is applied to private activity bonds and increases their borrowing costs.

A U.S. Senate panel gave its stamp of approval this week to legislation that would create a federal loan and loan guarantee program for water infrastructure that could augment bond financing and public private partnerships.

Congress passed a short-term funding measure Thursday to keep the federal government operating and avoid a shutdown next week.

Four firms agreed to pay $105,000 in fines for violations of pricing, political contribution, supervisory and other rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a federal court in Birmingham, Ala., to set a trial date for two former JPMorgan bankers facing charges related to bankrupt Jefferson County's defaulted sewer deals.

The Joint Committee on Taxation issued a report Friday that summarizes the federal code tax provisions that affect state and local governments, including those for tax-exempt, traditional tax-credit tax, and direct-pay bonds.

Smaller banks and securities firms are urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board not to shorten its current 15-minute trade reporting deadline or make changes to current trade reporting procedures.

The Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt bond office has issued a report that examines the potential problems that can occur during the three main phases of a bond transaction and suggests how issuers can avoid them. But some lawyers attending the National Association of Bond Lawyers' 13th annual Tax and Securities Law Institute questioned whether the IRS should be writing a report that is oriented toward providing best practices rather than the tax law.