Washington

The failure of lawmakers in Washington to come to grips with a fast-approaching deadline to boost the federal debt ceiling is beginning to affect the municipal bond market.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A $1.1 billion transportation project aimed at alleviating congestion around Atlanta has qualified to apply for a low-interest federal loan as part of the financing plan.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is proposing to reduce the cost of the $3.8 billion metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport by having Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia pay for parking garages and a station with federal assistance.

The Vermont Student Loan Assistance Corp., which has been in discussions with the Internal Revenue Service to settle a tax law dispute over $165 million of auction-rate securities it sold in 1998, disclosed that the IRS is expanding its audit to include more of the issuer’s ARS.

Broker-dealers who are primary distributors of 529 college savings plans would have to disclose information about their total assets, the assets of underlying portfolios, contributions, and withdrawals on a quarterly basis, under a proposal the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Private-activity bond issuance rose in 2010 for the first time in three years because of a big jump in bonds spurred by a two-year housing recovery program that was enacted during the financial crisis, according to an annual survey and market participants.

WASHINGTON - The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined seven firms a total of $362,500 for violations of municipal securities rules.

WASHINGTON - Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro is expected to preside over a one-day hearing on the municipal securities market near Birmingham, Ala., in two weeks, sources said.

WASHINGTON - George K. Baum & Co. and CDR Financial Products, Inc. were bidding agents for muni reinvestment transactions involving J.P. Morgan Securities where bid-rigging occurred, according to court and bond documents as well as transaction participants.

WASHINGTON - First Southwest Co., as bidding agent for a repurchase agreement related to a $233 million bond deal in Texas for which it was financial adviser, improperly allowed JPMorgan Securities to lower its bid for the repo, reducing the issuer's investment rate, according to documents and transaction participants.

House Republicans are trying to divert $1 billion dollars of high-speed rail funding still left in the federal government's coffers from President Obama's stimulus program toward flood-control aid in the Midwest.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday that only about 20% of governmental issuers that responded to a survey showed they have written procedures or some system to make sure they comply with tax laws and rules after their bonds are issued.

LOS ANGELES - Pacifica Law Group, a recently formed public finance firm in Seattle, announced two prominent industry lawyers have joined its team.

WASHINGTON - One year after the enactment of a sweeping financial reform law, municipal market participants say the overhaul has created an environment of uncertainty, not dramatic change.

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board may boost its oversight of the derivatives market, including guaranteed investments contracts that are at the center of a bid-rigging investigation by the Justice Department and other federal and state agencies, an MSRB official said Tuesday.

Rep. John F. Tierney has introduced tax reform legislation that would require all tax-exempt municipal bonds to be issued as direct-pay subsidy bonds at a 28% subsidy rate after this year. The bill is part of an effort to eliminate certain tax expenditures and sway the deficit-reduction negotiations driving the legislative agenda.

WASHINGTON - In a ruling that could spell trouble for Wedbush Securities Inc., a municipal securities trader snagged a $3.5 million arbitration award from the firm, based on its failure to pay him incentive-based compensation.

Revenues in at least 28 states will exceed their fiscal 2011 budget forecasts as personal income and corporate taxes rebound, the Center on Budget Policies and Priorities said Monday.

A bill recently introduced in the House would create new tax-credit bonds to help state and local governments finance charging stations for plug-in electric cars.

The Internal Revenue Service closed a routine audit without changing the tax-exempt status of $147.5 million of auction-rate securities sold by the New Mexico Hospital Equipment Loan Council in May 2004.