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State and local governments spent less in the first quarter of 2010 on infrastructure projects and new equipment despite a windfall of federal aid, figures released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis on Friday showed.

WASHINGTON — As the full Senate began to debate financial regulatory reform legislation Thursday, dealers pushed back against several provisions they said could shut down the swaps market for states and localities.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation this week issued guidance on how state and local governments should apply for $600 million for projects under a competitive discretionary grant program.

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has raised the possibility of including a provision to extend the Build America Bonds program in an “extenders” package, which lawmakers hope to approve by Memorial Day weekend.

WASHINGTON — In a surprise bipartisan development, Senate lawmakers announced Wednesday evening that they would begin to debate financial regulatory reform legislation on the Senate floor by unanimous consent, a method that allows the bill to proceed without a cloture vote to limit debate on the measure.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Manhattan has ruled that a group of 11 California localities, including Los Angeles, may go forward with their civil cases against Goldman, Sachs & Co., Citigroup, and several other high-profile firms because they may have participated in an alleged conspiracy to rig bids for municipal investment contracts and derivatives.

WASHINGTON — At a meeting today and tomorrow in Philadelphia, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to discuss proposed rule changes that would dictate the priority of retail and other customer orders in primary offerings, as well as where the board stands on its push to provide rating changes over its EMMA site.

Smaller airports, transfer hubs, and airports with a large proportion of business from only one or two airlines will be most vulnerable if the remaining U.S. legacy airlines continue to consolidate, Fitch Ratings said in a report issued yesterday.

After telling state and local officials that there was nothing they could do to adjust a much-maligned formula used to allocate $25 billion of recovery zone bonds, Treasury Department officials are now referring the governments to legislation pending in the Senate that would allocate another $25 billion of the bonds using new criteria.

WASHINGTON — Never before in the U.S. has there been such a push to develop high-speed rail, with Congress and the Obama administration providing funds and new programs that could ultimately get the trains up and running here as they are in other advanced countries.

WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats Tuesday failed for the second straight day to garner the 60 votes they needed to move forward with consideration of a massive financial regulatory reform bill by the full Senate.

A federal judge in Manhattan has refused to dismiss lawsuits four California issuers filed against Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan, and other banks, broker-dealers, and investment brokers, charging they conspired to rig bids and fix prices of guaranteed investment and derivatives contracts in the municipal market.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is urging Congress to fix a number of glitches and provisions with unintended consequences that it has identified in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted last February.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department released interim guidance yesterday instructing municipal issuers how to issue four tax-credit bonds as direct-subsidy bonds, as was authorized by a jobs law enacted in March.

WASHINGTON — All 41 Senate Republicans and one Democrat voted Monday evening against limiting debate on a massive financial regulatory reform bill, depriving Democrats leadership of the 60 votes they needed to move forward with a vote the full Senate.

Four major municipal market groups yesterday urged the Treasury Department to immediately issue interim guidance on how to determine issue price for Build America Bonds, warning that confusion surrounding the topic is having a “chilling effect” on the still-developing market.

The Investment Company Institute is urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to expand the proposed second phase of its transparency system for short-term debt to include more types of data and documents, while the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is concerned that the expansion would be unduly onerous for dealers.

New-issue prices for Build America Bonds remain a hot topic among municipal market participants, as several market groups last week were weighing asking the Treasury Department for clarification on the subject.

This chart includes legislation introduced in the 111th Congress, which convened in January and extends through the end of 2010.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced yesterday that it has fined HSBC Securities Inc. $1.5 million and U.S. Bancorp Investments Inc. $275,000 to settle sales-practice violations for municipal and other auction-rate securities the firms sold to retail customers.