Washington

WASHINGTON — The first two quarters of the year showed gains in state tax revenues, thanks mostly to legislated tax increases, but total collections still linger below 2008 levels, the Rockefeller Institute of Government said Tuesday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved a distribution plan allowing ­Jefferson County, Ala., to receive a $25 million disgorgement and civil penalty that ­JPMorgan paid into a “fair” fund to compensate harmed investors and issuers.

WASHINGTON — Four former Financial Industry Regulatory Authority officials who left the agency in 2008 each received between $2.74 million and $4.43 million in reportable compensation and benefits that year, according to the latest form the nonprofit self-regulator filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia’s long-delayed convention center hotel project will finally move forward Tuesday with a $248.4 million bond deal that will allow construction to begin next month.

States have ramped up their clean-energy programs, incorporating more bonds and bond-related financing options, since 2008, according to information compiled by the National Governors Association.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined four firms a total of $62,000 for errors in the reporting of municipal securities transactions, including $25,000 against Goldman, Sachs & Co., the self-regulator announced in monthly disciplinary decisions released Friday.

WASHINGTON — A professional group of accountants is asking the Internal Revenue Service to give large nonprofit hospitals a grace period of at least three years to fix any tax compliance problems that could jeopardize their tax-exempt status.

WASHINGTON — As the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board begins to regulate an anxious and skeptical non-dealer advisory community, its new chairman, Michael Bartolotta of Dallas-based First Southwest Co., the largest dealer-advisory firm in the nation, is stressing that the MSRB’s rules will be fair to all regulated market participants.

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is opposing a recent Obama administration plan to invest in transportation, warning it is a year late and unacceptable because it would be paid for by ending tax loopholes for oil companies.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that it has signed off on a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to post ratings directly onto the board’s EMMA site.

WASHINGTON — Municipal market participants have many questions about new rules adopted by the Internal Revenue Service that require paid tax preparers to register with it, possibly take competency tests, and pay penalties for improper filings.

Transportation stakeholders are divided this week on a renewed push by President Obama for Congress to provide $50 billion of funding and the release of a report by the Treasury Department and Council of Economic Advisers that stresses the economic risk of not spending more on infrastructure.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has hired Karen Du Brul as an associate general counsel to work on the rulemaking and policy team as it begins to write rules for muni advisers.

DETROIT — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s executive director on Friday tried to allay some of the concerns nondealer financial advisers have about the regulatory burdens they may face under MSRB oversight.

DETROIT — Independent financial ­advisers meeting here Thursday questioned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Martha Mahan Haines about which advisers must register with the SEC under the new regulatory reform law, while Haines announced that the agency will hold its next field hearing on munis in Chicago on Nov. 16.

WASHINGTON — The Governmental Accounting Standards Board is set to kick off a series of public hearings next week on its preliminary draft pension-fund accounting and financial reporting standards that are designed to boost the disclosure of public pension liabilities but are proving to be controversial.

WASHINGTON — Municipal market participants should not expect the Treasury Department to simply rubber-stamp the existing tax-exempt bond rules for issue price when it comes to Build America Bonds, a Treasury official told bond lawyers at a recent meeting.

SAN FRANCISCO — Industry experts echoed concerns Wednesday about regulatory changes in the municipal bond industry and the possible impact the changes may have in the coming weeks and months.

Despite recent warnings from some financial experts that the ongoing financial troubles of state and local governments will lead to municipal bond defaults, state credits remain much more stable than corporate credits, Moody’s Investors Service said Wednesday.

City tax revenues are following the lead of state tax revenues, showing record-breaking declines that are not expected to improve this year or next, according to an annual report released Wednesday by the National League of Cities.