Washington

Private-activity bond issuance declined in 2011, mirroring the overall municipal bond market as state and local governments stepped up muni issuance during the last half of 2010 to take advantage of favorable stimulus law provisions before they expired, according to an annual survey and market participants.

Lifting the more than 100 year-old federal law restricting the height of buildings in the District of Columbia would eventually expand the city's "very limited tax base," D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi told a House subcommittee.

Washington Treasurer James McIntire said the state saw good results from its four competitive bond sales on Wednesday that totaled $560 million

Federal regulators do not support wholesale removal of the Tower Amendment or exemptions from federal securities laws for municipal securities, the General Accountability Office said in a report issued Thursday.

A group of Senate Democrats is urging the U.S. Department of Justice and federal banking and securities regulators to investigate allegations that domestic and foreign banks manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, which is used as a benchmark in municipal bond-related swaps and other financial products.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded $188 million of Tacoma, Wash. limited tax general obligation bonds to A from AA-minus.

Seattle voters will decide in November whether to authorize $290 million of bonds to help rebuild part of the city's seawall and downtown piers.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., has put a hold on two Treasury nominees.

Big bond commitments will be a major piece of the funding puzzle when it comes to constructing a national high-speed rail system, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood affirmed Wednesday.

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce an amendment to the small-business tax credit bill this week that would require online retailers to collect sales taxes from out-of-state customers.

The IRS is auditing $245.7 million of hospital revenue bonds issued by The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama in Birmingham in September 2006.

The Senate Banking Committee is looking into the allegations that banks manipulated Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate that is used by financial institutions to set interest rates for financial products, including interest rate swaps entered into by municipal bond issuers.

A U.S. appeals court will take up a lawsuit as early as October that attacks the financial backing of billions of bonds paying for the Washington Metrorail's Silver Line Extension to Dulles Airport.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is releasing draft rule changes that would prohibit municipal securities dealers from consenting to amendments in bond authorizing documents, except in very limited circumstances.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 to go ahead with the county's participation in the second phase of the Washington Metrorail's Silver Line extension, committing the county to an approximately $270 million share of the construction costs of the controversial and largely bond-financed project.

Moody's Investors Service affirmed its Aaa rating on King County, Wash. unlimited tax GO bonds, and its Aa1 rating for its limited tax GOs.

New Rule G-43 requires that broker's brokers make reasonable efforts to obtain fair and reasonable prices when conducting secondary-market "bid-wanted" auctions.

While the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's new accounting standards announced Monday will improve financial reporting for public pension plans they also will put added pressure on cash-strapped state and local governments to reform their systems.