Washington

Senate Finance Committee chair Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, is concerned some private nonprofit museums may be exploiting their tax-exempt status and not providing enough public benefits.

Norton Rose Fulbright announced today that 18 members of Sidley Austin's public finance practice will be transferring to the firm as part of a change that includes opening a new San Francisco office.

The District of Columbia Council this week approved its $13.4 billion fiscal 2017 budget this week, despite Republican House members calling any such move unconstitutional.

Muni market groups are resoundingly saying "no" to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's question of whether it should require municipal advisors to disclose information about their issuer clients' bank loans or privately placed municipal securities.

Bill proposed by Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., would authorize five P3s to finance and build VA medical facilities and cemeteries.

President Obama is threatening to veto legislation approved by the House that would effectively block the District of Columbia from achieving budget autonomy and home rule.

Oregon panel says state needs an additional $964 million per year to maintain and protect its existing transportation infrastructure.

House Appropriations Committee adopted a proposal to increase highway and transit funding by $1.25 billion in 2017.

State and national transportation groups oppose Senate plan to reclaim more than $2 billion of unobligated highway funds.

Four port authorities and a wholesale electricity provider are warning that rules proposed by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service earlier this year could hurt their standing as political subdivisions and their ability to issue bonds as well as complicate their governing structures.

U.S. transit operators say reliable, dedicated funding is needed to resolve growing maintenance problems.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has filed a complaint against Phoenix-based Lawson Financial Corp. and the firm's president and chief executive officer, charging them with securities fraud in connection with the sale of millions of dollars of municipal revenue bonds to customers.

House members, government officials, and stakeholders all say the newest version of a bill to help Puerto Rico is a step forward, but their support for the measure seems tepid at best.

A House committee has passed legislation that would block the District of Columbia from having budget autonomy and the ability to spend its local tax dollars without congressional approval.

Both 10-year transportation funding plans proposed by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton include $2 billion of road bonds.

Despite House Republican threats of criminal prosecution, the District of Columbia Council will hold the first of two votes Tuesday that would give the district budget autonomy and the ability to spend its local tax and fee revenues without annual congressional appropriation.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, a subsidiary of Bank of America, was ordered to pay $422,708 in fines and restitution by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for charging customers excessive markups and markdowns on municipal securities.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton will propose a compromise transportation funding bill to resolve a legislative deadlock.

The next president and new Congress have an opportunity to reverse the ongoing decline in the nation's aging infrastructure.

Facing new federal constraints on tax-exempt debt for projects with a private revenue stream, El Paso County, Texas, refunded tax-exempts with taxable bonds and still achieved interest rate savings.