Washington

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials expressed dismay Monday over a House bill for a continuing resolution to fund the U.S. government.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board wants feedback from the public on the top regulatory and other priorities that it should address in its next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1.

The Internal Revenue Service has closed its audit of $162.53 million of general fee revenue bonds issued by Auburn University, Ala., in 2007 with no change the bonds' tax-exempt status.

Congressional staffers and finance experts speaking at the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Washington Briefing said the outlook for highway funding is more uncertain than ever, while two transport-oriented lawmakers vowed to work across the aisle to make sure state and local officials have federal support.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has filed a proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would tighten regulation of dealers' muni-related telemarketing practices and require them to respect customers' "do not call" requests indefinitely, rather than for just five years.

The Washington State Department of Transportation said its mistakes in the design of the new Highway 520 floating bridge will costs tens of millions of dollars and delay construction.

The National Governors Association sent two similar letters to President Obama and congressional leaders urging them to put their partisan bickering aside and come together to avoid the automatic, across-the-board budget cuts set to begin Friday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board will offer a live webcast of its market outreach event with the Municipal Advisory Council of Texas on March 7 in Dallas. This is the first time the board has webcasted an outreach event.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a public roundtable on Tuesday, May 14, to discuss the SEC's December staff Report to Congress on Assigned Credit Ratings, which reviews possible conflicts of interest that arise under the so-called "issuer pay model" and recommends regulatory and statutory changes.

Peabody Energy Corp., which led efforts to develop the mostly bond-financed, joint power agency-owned Prairie State Energy Campus, has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the coal-fired plant's development.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has moved its library of electronic disclosures of dealers' political contributions to the EMMA system, the board announced Monday.

With sequestration looming, and the tax-exempt bond threatened, market experts at the National Municipal Bond Summit believe that alternative financing can be achieved with taxable bonds.

The sequestration cuts scheduled to take effect March 1 could throw the muni market into uncertainty and slam the air transport sector, according to market groups and public officials.

The tax exemption on municipal bond interest will not survive tax reform efforts in Washington, D.C., without a grass-roots effort from issuers, according to market experts at the fifth National Municipal Bond Summit.

Chicago received 16 responses in its first market outreach to identify prospective bidders in a possible deal to privatize Midway International Airport, according to the city's chief financial officer Lois Scott.

The Internal Revenue Service closed an audit of $39.24 million general obligation bonds issued in 2007 by Manchester, Conn., with no change to the bonds' tax-exempt status.

Municipal market participants are encouraged but cautious about President Obama's proposal for a new type of taxable, direct-pay bond called America Fast Forward bonds to finance the nation's infrastructure.

Lotteries are a key source of revenue for 44 states nationwide, but players' evolving tastes and record-low interest rates have contributed to put lotteries in a precarious position, according to the head of the industry's leading interest group.

Moody's Investors Service Wednesday downgraded to A2 from Aa3 a Washington hospital's limited tax general obligation bonds affecting $223.9 million in debt.

Pullman, Wash.'s general obligation bond ratings has been cut to A1 from Aa3 by Moody's Investors Service due to weak finances.