Washington

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $162.53 million of general fee revenue bonds issued by Auburn University in 2007.

Seattle-area voters appeared to have approved two property tax measures to help improve facilities and operations amid tight budgets.

Washington saved $74 million this week by refunding more than $700 million of general obligation bonds in two competitive sales, officials said.

Bond Buyer Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Hume interviews George Friedlander, Chief Muni Strategist at Citi.

Bond Buyer Washington Bureau Chief Lynn Hume interviews Toby Rittner, Pres. and CEO, Council Development Finance Agencies

The U.S. Senate confirmed Mark Mazur late Thursday by a voice vote to serve as the Treasury Department's assistant secretary for tax policy.

The threats to the tax-exemption are the greatest they have ever been primarily due to the level of federal deficit reduction that Congress needs to tackle, several municipal bond market experts said at the annual Council of Development Finance Agencies conference.

A bipartisan Senate package to revive dozens of expiring or expired tax breaks, including several muni provisions, would cost $205.1 billion over 10 years, according to an analysis from the Joint Committee on Taxation.

John Cross, the associate tax legislative counsel in the Treasury's Office of Tax Policy, is to become director of the SEC's new Office of Municipal Securities in September.

MSRB has sent a two-page letter to nine organizations requesting a meeting.

A diverse group of municipal market participants has criticized the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's recent concept release related to third-party payments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has named John J. Cross, 3rd, the head of its Office of Municipal Securities.

States' tax collections grew by 4.7% for the ninth straight quarter in the first three months of 2012 and are now above pre-recession levels, a new Rockefeller Institute on Government report shows.

Congress will likely take up an online sales tax bill before the end of the year, the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee told reporters after a congressional hearing Wednesday.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies and the Clean Energy Group have teamed up to create a partnership to help boost clean energy investment through municipal bond financing.

Washington will sell nearly $800 million of mostly refunding bonds next week as low rates continue to drive large refinancing deals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's long-awaited report on the municipal market asks Congress to give it authority to set disclosure standards for muni issuers and to provide the tools to enforce those standards.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has scheduled a conference call with reporters at 11 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the agency's long-anticipated report on the municipal securities market.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced it will begin a multi-month review of muni bond indexes with the aim of increasing transparency and educating market participants about how the they are developed and used.