Washington

The 100 largest public-employee retirement systems had $2.8 trillion in holdings and investments in the third quarter of 2012, a 2.6% increase from the same quarter last year and the highest level since the second quarter of 2008, according to a Census Bureau report.

House Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B" backup proposal to prevent some tax rate increases would make permanent two muni bond provisions that were originally enacted under the 2001 and 2003 Bush-era tax cuts.

Airports, ports, and unregulated power companies are at risk due to the impending fiscal cliff, while toll roads and public power utilities are insulated from the worst danger, according to a Moody's Investors Service report released Wednesday.

An Internal Revenue Service official has told Rep. Dennis Kucinich that Treasury Department officials cannot talk with him about the Build America Bonds used to finance the coal-fired Prairie State Energy Campus power plant in Illinois, which has experienced cost overruns and operational problems.

The State Bond Commission considers a plan Thursday by Louisiana Stadium and Exposition District for a $430 million refunding in 2013.

In yet another fiery exchange over efforts to avert the fiscal cliff, a top White House administration official said Wednesday President Obama will veto House Speaker John Boehner's backup plan.

The Internal Revenue Service has notified New Orleans officials that it has closed an audit of more than $70 million of public improvement bonds issued by the city in 2007 with no change to their tax-exempt status.

White House officials rejected House Republicans' Plan B fallback proposal to extend tax rate cuts for those making under $1 million, warning it does not go far enough and will not pass muster in the Senate.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three firms $76,500 for violating rules of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

House Republicans will move forward with a "Plan B" fiscal cliff package that will not include a cap on the value of tax-exemption or other tax expenditures, expecting to vote on it as early as Thursday.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is requesting feedback on, among other things, whether its rules impose undue burdens on market participants, and how those burdens could be alleviated.

The Municipal Bonds for America launched a technical advisory committee this week as a technical market data resource for members of Congress, congressional staff, policymakers and to support the overall advocacy issues of the coalition.

Two Democratic state senators in Washington, Rodney Tom and Tim Sheldon, defected from their caucus to hand control to Republicans.

A lawsuit challenging the legality of the Dulles Rail project's toll-powered funding mechanism will have to head to yet another venue after the federal court weighing the case decided it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has changed how it calculates "bid to cover" ratios for auction-rate securities to make the data more indicative of investor demand.

The Internal Revenue Service's tax-exempt bond office will continue sending out its semiannual newsletter in 2013 after favorable feedback to its second edition.

Speaking in Washington before a Senate panel, Joseph Lhota, chairman of New York's MTA, urged federal help for his hurricane-battered transit system.

An agitated U.S. Secretary of Transportation reiterated the Obama administration's support for high-speed rail investment, and fought vigorously to defend the controversial and partly bond-funded $68 billion bullet train initiative in California.

For the first time in the group's history, the National Conference of State Legislators descended on Capitol Hill Wednesday and spent the day lobbying Congress on one single issue: an online sales tax bill.

Susan Gaffney, federal liaison director for the Government Finance Officers Association for the past 12 years, plans to leave her post at the end of next week and move to California to help with family matters.