Washington

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro told lawmakers Tuesday that the agency needs to hire 800 people to implement provisions in the financial regulatory reform legislation that President Obama is expected to sign into law today.

The Senate may vote on a multi-year Federal Aviation Administration bill this week that could include an increase in the cap on passenger facilities charges, a key lawmaker and others said Tuesday at a meeting here sponsored by the American Association of Airport Executives.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is soliciting public comments through Aug. 9 on a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to change its EMMA site to reflect new materiality standards for continuing disclosures as well as changes to a list of event-based disclosures that borrowers may voluntarily submit to the system.

The Cinco Municipal Utility District No. 1, located near Houston, has disclosed that the Internal Revenue Service is auditing $5.2 million of revenue bonds it issued in 2002 to finance water and sewer infrastructure.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and 29 other members of Congress have introduced legislation that would prevent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from stifling state programs that allow localities to sell bonds to finance energy-efficient ­upgrades made by ­homeowners.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A measure to impose a state income tax in Washington has qualified for the November ballot, according to the secretary of state’s office.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined three firms a total of $92,500, mostly for municipal bond rule violations, and barred a former principal of a firm from the market for falsifying investment statements for a widow to make it look like she owned muni bonds when she did not.

WASHINGTON — Former Southwest Securities Inc. banker John F. Kendrick has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $10,000 to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he willfully violated, and caused the firm to violate, Rule G-37 by making significant political contributions to Massachusetts Treasurer Timothy Cahill.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 60 to 39 Thursday to approve sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system that will significantly alter the landscape of municipal securities regulation.

WASHINGTON — Congress is unlikely to authorize the creation of a national infrastructure bank before next summer, despite its potential to spur more private investment in transportation, water, and energy projects, transportation stakeholders from the public and private sectors said yesterday.

WASHINGTON — Blank Rome LLP has hired three new attorneys for its lobbying shop who are experienced in representing sovereign and municipal governments.

WASHINGTON — California Attorney General Jerry Brown is suing mortgage titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, for effectively killing programs that allow the state’s localities to issue bonds to finance energy-efficient upgrades made by homeowners.

WASHINGTON — Municipal bond analysts worry that issuers increasingly are drawing on bond insurance to temporarily pay for debt service without disclosing the action to investors.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., has introduced legislation that would allow new clean renewable energy bonds to be used to finance qualified biogas property.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats on Tuesday secured the 60 votes they will need to ensure passage of the most sweeping changes to financial regulations since the Great Depression, after Nebraska Democrat Ben Nelson said he would vote for a version of the bill hammered out by a House-Senate conference late last month.

WASHINGTON — State tax collections grew during the first quarter for the first time since 2008, the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government reported Tuesday, raising hope that the national economic recovery may finally be improving states’ fiscal fortunes.

The Treasury Department is seeking comments from tribal governments on the tribal economic development bonds authorized by the stimulus law, including whether Congress should permanently repeal the “essential governmental function” standard for all tribal bonds.

Wall Street’s largest securities dealers eased credit terms during the second quarter for hedge funds and private-equity firms that borrow against securities and trade over-the-counter derivatives, according to the results of a Federal Reserve Board survey issued Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — Congress returns to work this week still lacking a clear game plan for extending bond programs and other federal assistance for state and local governments, despite pleas for the extensions from governors meeting in Boston through the weekend.

BOSTON – U.S. governors this weekend called for greater fiscal discipline in their states to calm bond market fears over their debts, but they offered little consensus on efforts to extend certain federal government stimulus programs, specifically Build America Bonds.