Washington

A key Republican lawmaker criticized the floating net-asset value for money market funds Friday, citing the toll such a shift would have on state and local governments.

WASHINGTON — State and local governments will face higher debt-issuance costs if regulators require money market funds to move to floating net-asset values, issuer groups warned Thursday.

WASHINGTON - The Center for American Progress says any debt-limit agreement should contain expenditure cuts, including eliminating tax-exemption for private-activity bonds and making other new munis direct-pay bonds with a 25% subsidy rate.

WASHINGTON - Amid a lackluster housing market, additional downgrades of military base projects and budgetary uncertainty, adjustment was the theme Thursday at The Bond Buyer's sixth annual military housing privatization conference.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission would create a five-person office of municipal securities and a 35-member office of credit ratings, both of which would report directly to the chairman as mandated by Dodd-Frank, according to letters the SEC sent lawmakers.

WASHINGTON - Taxpayers will have to contribute an average of $1,398 per household per year over the next 30 years, either through tax hikes or reduced public services, to fulfill public-sector pension obligations, according to a study released Tuesday.

Seattle will slash $10 million from its general fund budget to close budget gaps through the end of the year.

Housing groups and bond dealers are urging the Internal Revenue Service not to adopt a proposed change in the way the average area purchase price is determined associated with mortgages financed with the proceeds of single-family housing bonds.

As one dramatic chapter in Regions Financial Corp.'s history ends, another is about to begin.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced Wednesday that it has tapped a new leader after a difficult selection process and during a time of controversy about the second phase of its Metrorail extension project.

WASHINGTON - State and local governments should develop standards to bolster public pension disclosure or federal regulators may mandate improvements for them, a Securities and Exchange Commission official warned Tuesday.

The Financial Regulatory Industry Authority fined Wells Fargo Advisors LLC $13,000 and ordered it to pay restitution of almost $8,628 to a municipal customer for violating pricing and fair-dealing rules.

The Internal Revenue Service has completed a routine audit of $250 million of Build America Bonds issued by Denver School District No. 1, with no change to the subsidy payments the issuer receives from the federal government.

WASHINGTON — Ballard Spahr LLP is promoting public finance attorney Joseph Fanone to managing partner in its Washington, D.C., office, the firm announced Monday.

Tender rates for the Treasury Department's latest 91-day and 182-day discount bills were lower, as the three-months incurred a 0.035% high rate, down from 0.050% the previous week, and the six-months incurred a 0.100% high rate, off from 0.105%.

WASHINGTON - State and local government groups are launching campaigns to protect the tax-exempt interest for municipal bonds against cost-cutting efforts in Congress.

WASHINGTON - The Bipartisan Policy Center released a new spending reform plan Thursday that calls for a near quadrupling of the U.S. Transportation Department's TIFIA program from a $122 million annual appropriation to $450 million.

The congressional Joint Tax Committee has estimated that President Obama's fiscal 2012 budget proposal to permanently reinstate Build America Bonds at a 28% subsidy rate would result in net revenue losses of $5.7 billion to the federal government over a 10-year period.

BRADENTON, Fla. - South Miami is seeking a taxable bank loan to fund a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over impermissible uses of tax-exempt bond and bank loan proceeds to build a parking garage.

Washington's economic recovery has slowed since March after fairly strong growth in the early part of the year, according to state figures.