Washington

WASHINGTON — States could lose $768 million of highway funds this week and be forced to delay or cancel projects due to the failure of Congress to approve a short-term extension of federal aid to states, state officials and transportation advocates said Monday.

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices yesterday signaled they have concerns about the “honest-services fraud” statute used to convict former Enron Corp. chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling, but were unclear if they would grant his request that they declare it unconstitutionally broad and vague.

Two groups of tax attorneys last week urged the Treasury Department to modify its proposed regulations on bond-financed solid-waste disposal facilities to make sure they would cover all legitimate waste facilities.

An ethics report finding that House Ways and Means Committee chairman Charles Rangel violated congressional gift rules is the latest in a string of bad news for the embattled New York Democrat, but it remains unclear whether this friend of the muni market will eventually lose his powerful position.

WASHINGTON — States will not receive highway payments from the federal government starting today because of the Senate’s inability to clear a temporary extension of aid to states, although payments could resume this week, according to market sources.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Friday released a video tutorial for muni issuers and others who submit continuing disclosure documents to its EMMA site.

WASHINGTON — A Fitch Ratings report released this month lengthens the shadow cast over transportation credits by the economic downturn. However, the agency predicted an eventual upturn for seaports.

WASHINGTON — Three market groups are moving forward with plans to collaborate on new guidelines to improve the quality of derivatives disclosure and the more timely release of financial information.

WASHINGTON — Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said they included provisions to halt the issuance of tax-exempt bonds beginning in 2011 in their tax reform bill to make the tax code fairer for all investors and to help offset proposed revenue losers.

The House and Senate are hurtling toward a deadline this weekend to extend the current surface transportation law, but bills pending in each chamber differ significantly in how funds would be allocated to the states.

WASHINGTON — ­Municipal market participants are still weighing the implications of a bill that would eliminate tax-exempt bonds and shift the muni market wholesale to a tax-credit subsidy, with many warning it would hurt state and local governments still recovering from the recession.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Wednesday that Daniel Naeh, a former CDR Financial Products Inc. employee living in Israel, pleaded guilty Tuesday for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to guaranteed investment contracts and other municipal finance agreements.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Wednesday afternoon that Daniel Naeh, a former CDR Financial Products Inc. employee who is living in Israel, pleaded guilty Tuesday for his participation in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies related to contracts for the investment of municipal bond proceeds and other muni contracts.

New tax reform legislation unveiled Tuesday by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., would eliminate tax-exempt bonds beginning in 2011, change the tax exemption for state and local bonds to a tax credit, and prohibit the advance refunding of bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission formally released a series of final changes to its Rule 2a-7 on money market funds Tuesday aimed at boosting the resilience of funds during market crises, and set a March 5 effective date for them.

The horizon continues to appear gloomy for state and local governments heading into 2010, with two reports by Fitch Ratings and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government this week predicting another year of crunched state and local finances.

Peter Roberson has left his position as a senior policy adviser to the House Financial Services Committee to become vice president of government relations at IntercontinentalExchange Inc., which operates futures and over-the-counter derivatives exchanges and clearinghouses.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., is expected to unveil a revised financial regulatory reform bill by the end of the week, but it is not expected to include any changes to the municipal market-related provisions floated in the original version in November.

WASHINGTON — Local government defaults and bankruptcies could be higher this year than the historical norm, but are expected to remain rare, Moody’s ­Investors Service said in a report released yesterday.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday agreed to limit debate on a $15 billion jobs bill that includes an expansion of the Build America Bond program and extensions of surface transportation funding. The motion for cloture was approved by a vote of 62 to 30 after 6:00 p.m.