Washington

Maryland lawmakers continued negotiations on fiscal 2011 budget bills Thursday as local bond-financed projects, which some members consider earmarks, became a point of contention.

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Bond Lawyers is urging federal regulators to put a notice on EMMA alerting investors that rating information in offering and continuing disclosure documents may not be accurate as credit rating agencies recalibrate the ratings for tens of thousands of municipal bonds.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 27 transportation, labor, and other groups are urging lawmakers drafting climate and energy legislation that could impose a carbon tax on gasoline to ensure any resulting tax revenue would be funneled into the highway trust fund instead of other programs.

WASHINGTON — The mayor of Tucson has urged the Treasury Department to revise its criteria for determining what areas can use recovery zone bond financing, complaining that the current allocation method overlooks his city even though it has one of the highest unemployment rates in Arizona.

The Retama Development Corp. has agreed to pay the Internal Revenue Service an unspecified amount and convert $30.425 million of tax-exempt bonds into taxable debt to ensure $160.3 million of bonds it issued in 1993 and 1997 will remain tax-exempt.

Americans, even in rural areas, overwhelmingly favor expanding public transportation such as rail or bus transit rather than highway construction, which traditionally has received much more funding, according to a recent national poll.

WASHINGTON — State and local governments will save $12.3 billion on the $90 billion of Build America Bonds issued so far compared with traditional tax-exempt debt, the Treasury Department said in a recent report touting the success of the program.

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia’s convention center hotel project, which has been delayed for years, may finally be getting closer to financing, with a possible $250 million bond sale later this spring following a favorable court ruling last week, district officials said.

WASHINGTON — A group of California cities and localities are urging a federal judge in Manhattan not to dismiss the 13 cases they brought against Wells Fargo & Co. and 44 other banks, broker-dealers and investment brokers, charging they conspired to rig bids and fix prices of guaranteed investment and derivatives contracts in the muni market.

In a rare move for a lawmaker, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank announced Thursday that he has prohibited his staff from having any contact with a former aide who joined a company that operates derivatives exchanges after playing a key role in writing last year’s derivatives legislation.

WASHINGTON — Local housing finance agencies have asked the Treasury Department to push back the Dec. 31 deadline for converting short-term taxable bonds to long-term, tax-exempt, fixed-rate bonds under its New Issue Bond Purchase program, warning they will have trouble meeting it.

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s enactment of a new law yesterday that would require all federally guaranteed student loans to be originated by the federal government has led the state and nonprofit entities that have historically loaned to students to contemplate their future in the market.

The executive board of the Government Finance Officers Association is again engaging in a spirited dispute against the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, this time arguing that it should cease its work on a project that aims to set standards for forward-looking statements in government financial documents.

The accounts at Causey Demgen & Moore Inc. are teaming up with the attorneys at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC to help charitable organizations meet their post-issuance compliance obligations.

President Obama has announced that he will appoint Michael Mundaca as the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for tax policy during the congressional recess, citing “months of Republican obstruction to administration nominees” as the reason for bypassing the Senate.

WASHINGTON — One year after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act fundamentally altered the municipal landscape, market participants are pressing lawmakers to extend and expand its provisions.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department’s antitrust investigation has found dozens of firms and individuals conspired for at least six to eight years to secretly control the bidding for municipal bond investment and other contracts in more than 250 transactions, according to documents filed with a federal court in Manhattan.

WASHINGTON — John Kendrick, the former Southwest Securities Inc. banker who is being charged in a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative proceeding for allegedly violating pay-to-play restrictions, wants to reach a settlement with the SEC but is considering taking legal action against his former employer.

WASHINGTON — The House Thursday voted 276 to 145 to approve a bill that would increase the maximum allowable passenger facilities charge that airports can collect to $7.00 from $4.50.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Manhattan has refused to dismiss class action claims filed by local governments alleging that Wells Fargo & Co. and 15 other banks, broker-dealers and investment brokers conspired to rig bids and fix prices of guaranteed investment and derivatives contracts in the municipal market.