Washington

WASHINGTON — Washington State lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation to create $3 billion of qualified forest conservation bonds that could be used to help spur public-private partnership financing of sustainable ecosystems.

Issuers and independent financial advisers heralded the Securities and Exchange Commission’s endorsement of a proposed rule that would bar dealer-financial advisers from acting as an underwriter and a muni adviser on the same transaction.

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia’s budget vote last Wednesday jolted local municipal bond investors who could see their taxes jump on Oct. 1 as a result of a provision to tax the interest earnings from munis issued outside the district.

WASHINGTON — Financial reporting delays by state and local governments significantly compromise the usefulness of the information to users, including financial analysts, according to a recent report by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Lambuth University in Jackson, Tenn., has filed an audit that “raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”

WASHINGTON — House Transportation Committee chairman John Mica wants to take the Northeast rail corridor away from Amtrak and privatize most of it to get true high-speed rail service — trains that can travel at 220 miles per hour.

Senate transportation committee leaders have agreed to fund the TIFIA program at $1 billion per year as part of a six-year highway and transit funding bill that they plan to introduce in two weeks.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board released a draft of Rule G-44 Wednesday that would require municipal advisers to put in place supervisory systems to ensure they comply with Securities and Exchange Commission and MSRB rules.

Broker-dealers face increasing scrutiny and may be required in some cases to put the interests of municipal issuers ahead of their own, regulatory officials said Wednesday.

The Internal Revenue Service is sending out questionnaires to 300 issuers asking about their advance-refunding procedures and post-issuance compliance.

WASHINGTON — Congressional interest in municipal securities has increased significantly at a time when the issuer community does not appear to be as cohesive as it has been in the past, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s executive director said this week.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments are facing more scrutiny from municipal market participants, including rating agencies and underwriters, market experts warned this week.

SAN ANTONIO — Government officials are sweating the risk that they will lose the tax-exemption for muni bonds, worrying that the market for tax-credit bonds — an alternative to tax-exempts posed by some members of Congress — won’t work as well.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments should boost their continuing disclosure voluntarily or federal regulators may mandate improvements for them, a state finance director warned Saturday.

SAN ANTONIO — State and local governments dodged a bullet again on the 3% withholding requirement when earlier this month the Internal Revenue Service postponed its start date until 2013.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to file revised amendments to its Rule G-20 with the Securities and Exchange Commission in June that will clarify proposed restrictions on gifts and gratuities for muni advisers would be virtually the same as those for broker-dealers, MSRB officials said Monday.

The Internal Revenue Service has revised its Form 8038 for private-activity bonds, asking issuers now to provide more specific information about their guaranteed investment contracts and hedges.

WASHINGTON — A muni market research group is urging Congress to require the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to tag issuers that fail to comply with their secondary-market disclosure agreements and then force dealers to take the flagged muni securities into account when trading.

WASHINGTON — President Obama has nominated Luis Aguilar to a second term at the Securities and Exchange Commission and WilmerHale partner Daniel Gallagher to replace Kathleen Casey, whose term as SEC commissioner expires in July.

WASHINGTON — Loudoun County, Va., is looking at the possible impact of withdrawing its funding for the Washington, D.C., Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.