Washington

State and local transportation authorities in more than 40 states will receive a total of $1.5 billion in grant or loan subsidy funds to support 51 projects that range from port revitalization to toll roads and streetcars.

WASHINGTON — Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H., plan to introduce bipartisan, comprehensive tax-reform legislation on Tuesday after the Senate returns from its recess.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined five firms a total of $113,000 for municipal and other trade-reporting violations. Seattle-Northwest Securities Corp. received the largest fine for muni bond rule violations: $13,000 for failing to timely report certain information from 200 municipal transactions.

The Internal Revenue Service has decided not to alter the tax-exempt status of $57.5 million of bonds issued in 2003 by the Illinois Health Facilities Authority, now the Illinois Finance Authority, after completing an audit that focused on two former board members who pleaded guilty to defrauding Rosalind Franklin University and orchestrating kickback schemes, the issuer disclosed last week.

WASHINGTON — A mileage-based revenue system to fund federally assisted transportation projects could be implemented within about five years, the RAND Corp. said in a report released online last week.

SAN FRANCISCO — After a 22-year career with the city of Seattle, longtime finance director Dwight Dively is moving on.

Primary and secondary market trading volume for Build America Bonds totaled $117.4 billion on 271,777 trades last year, according to a report released Friday by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

WASHINGTON — Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee yesterday unveiled a draft of bipartisan jobs legislation that would “BABify” four tax-credit bond programs by allowing issuers to receive Build America Bond-type direct payments instead of providing investors with tax credits.

WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Bob Corker’s decision to negotiate directly with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd on regulatory reform may boost the chances of reaching a bipartisan bill, but does not clarify how critical unresolved issues will be worked out.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission is defending its antifraud authority over certain interest-rate swaps and urging a federal judge not to dismiss its suit against two former JPMorgan bankers for allegedly making more than $8 million in undisclosed payments to secure swaps for the firm with Jefferson County, Ala.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department yesterday announced that it had allocated the second and final $1 billion tranche of tribal economic development bonds to 76 Indian tribes across the nation.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration’s proposal to lower the subsidy rate for Build America Bonds to 28% is creating investor uncertainty and could hinder the program, California Treasurer Bill Lockyer warned Sen. Barbara Boxer this week.

WASHINGTON — The Regional Bond Dealers Association announced Wednesday that it has tapped William Daly, the seasoned federal affairs director for New York City, as its senior vice president for government relations. He will start working for the group in early March.

Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Tex., has introduced legislation that would authorize the use of Build America Bonds for the purchase or construction of land, buildings or other facilities located near a convention center.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s net assets fell to $26.39 million for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009, down $1.65 million from the previous year as new underwriting assessment fees fell dramatically, according to an audited financial statement and annual report expected to be released by the board today.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in New York Monday said he will not decide until Feb. 19 whether to accept the Securities and Exchange Commission settlement with Bank of America over allegations it misled shareholders and the federal government about its merger with Merrill Lynch.

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Federal Railroad Administration is currently evaluating options states could use to build high-speed rail, including ways to encourage multi-state projects, deputy administrator Karen Rae said in an interview yesterday.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is asking issuers of Build America Bonds and tax-credit bonds to weigh in on how much of a burden it is to file two new information returns for the bonds that will be released later this week.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to hire outside municipal market experts, including traders and investment bankers, to work in its reconstituted municipal and public pension fund enforcement unit, Elaine Greenberg said Friday.

Policymakers should allocate 25% of all federal transportation funding to competitive programs across all modes of travel as they consider overhauling federal laws, according to a recent report by the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center’s National Transportation Policy Project.