Washington

WASHINGTON — The American Bar Association’s taxation section has sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department urging them to update their rules and guidance on management contracts, which are important in determining that certain governmental and 501(c)(3) bonds remain tax-exempt and are not private-activity bonds.

WASHINGTON — Rep. G.K. Butterfield has introduced a bill that would curb the power of federal and state officials to toll interstate highways, just as tolls are increasingly seen by transportation officials as a key alternative to offsetting waning federal gas tax revenues for project funding.

Two members of the House Ways and Means Committee introduced bipartisan legislation that would permanently increase the bank-qualified debt limit to $30 million from $10 million and index it for inflation.

WASHINGTON — Executives of two rail organizations that rely on municipal bonds to finance some projects told international advisory firm KPMG that getting stakeholders and policymakers to buy into and embrace a cultural shift will be key to successfully financing large fast-rail networks.

The MSRB is citing almost a half-dozen enforcement actions against municipal securities firms that highlight the need for its new Rule G-17 guidance, which clarifies and expands on underwriters' fair-dealing obligations to state and local issuers.

A coalition of public finance groups is lobbying hard for House and Senate conferees working on a long-term highway bill to include a provision that would temporarily increase the limit for bank-qualified bonds.

President Obama's nominee for assistant secretary of the Treasury Department for financial markets suggested that he is willing to work with lawmakers on developing tax-credit bonds such as the transportation and regional infrastructure project, or TRIP, bonds. Matthew Rutherford has been nominated for the post after serving as deputy assistant secretary for three years.

After three weeks of listening to audio transcripts that ranged from titillating to tedious, jurors heard more taped conversations in Judge Harold Baer's courtroom in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.

SEC members voted 3-2 to approve interpretive guidance that clarifies underwriters' fair-dealing obligations to state and local issuers and requires them to provide issuers with a host of new disclosures.

WASHINGTON — For the first time since before the recession, 29 states and the District of Columbia expect their fiscal year revenues to show modest surpluses, according to a new report.

WASHINGTON — Despite an uptick in municipal bond trading during the first quarter of 2012, trading remains below levels seen in the same periods during 2010 and 2011, according to a quarterly statistics report released on Thursday by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond Lawyers is urging the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department to update their rules and guidance on management contracts, which are key to making sure many governmental and 501(c)(3) bonds remain tax-exempt and are not private-activity bonds.

A very public feud over the highway funding reauthorization is set to move to a more private venue, as 47 members of a conference committee prepare to hammer out a compromise on divisive issues in the House and Senate bills.

Washington will sell its first ever Garvee bonds next month as it works to raise more money to pay for a replacement floating bridge to help ease traffic in the Seattle region.

Witnesses representing public power providers who testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources Thursday expressed grave concerns that Department of Energy proposals would increase costs and fundamentally alter the public power market.

The top Democrat on a House Ways and Means Committee panel said Build America Bonds are one of his top priorities for renewal as Congress examines more than 100 of the 2011 and 2012 tax extenders.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is looking into the tax compliance of $195 million of lease revenue bonds issued by the Pima County, Ariz., Industrial Development Authority in 2008 for a nonprofit borrower that used them to finance the development of a detention facility for Clark County, Nev.

Moody’s Investors Service said Tuesday a new voter-approved sales tax to support a struggling arena that has defaulted on notes is a credit positive for Wenatchee, Wash.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is considering scaling back its initial proposed definition of municipal advisor in final registration rules, the agency’s chairman said Wednesday.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus wants Congress to consider alternatives to tax-exempt bonds in order to provide uniform subsidies for bondholders, and cites Build America Bonds as a good example.