Washington

WASHINGTON - Broker-dealers are objecting to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's proposal that they pay a quarterly fee, based on their municipal bond sales, to help fund the board that sets accounting standards for state and local governments.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., has introduced a bill allowing states to collect online sales taxes - legislation that has broad support from the business community as well as state and local officials, but so far has not attracted any Republican co-sponsors.

SAN FRANCISCO - Washington has finalized its statewide ballot measures for November and they include a controversial initiative to limit tolls, the secretary of state's office said this week.

WASHINGTON - Municipal market participants on Monday were relieved that Congress was moving toward approving a bipartisan agreement to raise the $14.3 trillion debt limit and avoid a default on federal debt, but were taking a wait-and-see approach on how the plan might ultimately affect the tax-exempt bond market.

WASHINGTON - At a meeting in Colorado Springs last week, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board voted to file with the Securities and Exchange Commission four final rules governing conduct by municipal advisers.

CHICAGO - Fitch Ratings Friday downgraded a swath of tobacco bonds - stripping some of their investment-grade ratings - as part of its annual sector review amid continued consumption declines by smokers and a dispute between the tobacco companies and states that is diminishing annual payments.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service has initiated very few audits of Build America Bonds based on issuers' responses to the compliance check questionnaires sent to them last year, a Treasury Department inspector general said in a report released Monday.

WASHINGTON - Triple-A rated municipal issuers responded swiftly and strongly to being placed on watch for a possible downgrade, saying a federal debt default would not hinder their ability to pay bondholders.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The Securities and Exchange Commission will issue a wide-ranging staff report about the municipal securities market, including recommendations for legislative change, commissioner Elisse Walter said Friday.

WASHINGTON - Sen. Ron Wyden has introduced a bill to create tax-credit bonds for transportation projects, hoping the program will navigate the political and economic realities that have challenged previous attempts at federal financing tools for state and local governments.

Oregon Treasurer Ted Wheeler said a credit default by the federal government would hurt state bonds.

WASHINGTON - Some airport bond ratings could be hurt by the congressional stalemate over funding the Federal Aviation Administration, according to credit rating analysts.

WASHINGTON - With lawmakers in Washington still deadlocked over a debt-ceiling solution, public finance attorneys are evaluating what the effects of a U.S. downgrade would be on the municipal bond market.

CHICAGO - The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has assembled a group of 25 public employers and pension plans to "field test" the implementation of its proposed changes to state and local governments pension accounting standards, according to the organization's research manager.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board would begin collecting a $300 annual assessment from municipal advisers beginning this fall if the Securities and Exchange Commission approves the proposal the board filed with it on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Market participants are split over public pension-disclosure guidance floated earlier this year by a bond lawyers' group, with analysts saying they need more information about a plan's future funding status and issuers and pension experts balking at providing speculative information about future liabilities.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc. and SunTrust Investment Services Inc. a total of $5 million for disclosure and other failures related to underwriting and selling auction-rate securities.

WASHINGTON - State and local groups on Monday urged congressional leaders and the Obama administration to quickly reach a long-term solution to the debt-limit crisis, warning it has stalled key legislation.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Thursday warned that the variable-rate demand obligation market "may be under pressure" over the next year and a half as bank credit facilities expire.

The chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said Thursday that she wants the panel to approve a bipartisan, two-year $109 billion transportation reauthorization bill before Congress leaves for its August recess.