Washington

MultiCare Health System, a not-for-profit health system based in Tacoma, Wash., has reached a deal to purchase the for-profit Rockwood Health System for $425 million and will finance a large portion of it with bonds.

The president-elect would finance his trillion dollar plan through tax credits, bypassing state and local governments, and may move to tax the interest on their municipal bonds.

A proposed continuing resolution that would fund federal programs and services through April 28, 2017, and a long-awaited bipartisan water bill would provide about $170 million For Flint, Mich., and other water infrastructure health initiatives.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association wants bank regulators to avoid adopting harsh international capital standards for trading that could have a chilling effect on the municipal market and hurt liquidity.

The MSRB issued interpretive guidance on how its rules apply to accounts that are fully managed by a registered investment advisor that is also a sophisticated municipal market professional.

WASHINGTON – Capping the tax exemption for municipal bonds over a nine-year period would have cost state and local governments roughly $175 billion in additional borrowing costs, while a full repeal would have cost them nearly $500 billion more, state and local officials warned Tuesday.

The District of Columbia next week will issue $577.6 million in general obligation bonds partly to finance projects under the district's capital improvements plan.

Republicans this week said they are working toward a continuing resolution to fund the federal government through March 31 instead of a full-year appropriations bill, a decision that disappointed Democrats and several GOP members.

Self-driving vehicles could be the ticket for replacing the fuel tax as the main road funding mechanism, accord to transportation experts.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced on Thursday that starting on Feb. 27, academic institutions will be able to request one-year data sets from a new data product that would identify dealers in some way without naming them.