Washington

The long-stalled bipartisan energy modernization bill is expected to move forward in the Senate without an amendment that would have provided Flint, Mich. with $220 million to address its ongoing water crisis.

Members of a House panel rebuffed a request from WMATA for $300 million per year of additional federal funding.

In parallel actions on Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. district attorney for the Southern District of New York filed civil and criminal charges against Ramapo, N.Y., officials for misleading investors in connection with bonds issued to finance a minor league baseball stadium.

Upgrading San Francisco’s vulnerable northern seawall to protect against earthquakes and rising sea level could cost $5 billion.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is calling for the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department to revise and re-propose rules that would determine when entities are political subdivisions that can issue tax-exempt bonds.

Maryland legislators have overridden Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a bill requiring ranking of transportation projects.

Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Jo White cited a voluntary municipal continuing disclosure enforcement program for dealer and issuers as one of the commission’s successful efforts at deter securities law violations and change market behavior.

The Conroe Industrial Development Corporation in Texas has paid a penalty and agreed to redeem bonds under the Internal Revenue Service’s voluntary closing agreement program (VCAP) to settle a tax violation relating to bonds it issued in 2008 and refunded in 2012.

Bond Dealers of America is urging the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to leave unchanged some rules that relate to the municipal securities market’s move to a two- instead of three-day settlement cycle.

Douglass P. Selby will be the new head of public finance at Hunton & Williams, and John O’Neill will lead the public-private partnership practice group.

The District of Columbia’s proposed six-year capital improvements plan includes $6.3 billion in infrastructure spending, nearly $4.3 billion of which will be financed with the issuance of municipal bonds.

The National Development Council is highlighting what it describes as its proven “American model” for social infrastructure public-private partnerships, which uses tax-exempt bonds.

Washington's legislature adjourned after passing modest adjustments to the state's previous two-year budget while taking money from an account used to help fund municipal finance deals.

In the Flint, Mich., case, Congress seems to be making clear it will increase its criticism of state and local leaders, but avoid any fiscal or moral responsibility.

Mississippi state senators approve a placeholder measure that keeps a proposed gas tax increase on the table.

The best execution rule, which took effect this week, may solidify a market shift concentrating retail customers in a few large firms, while others seek just to keep their institutional business running smoothly, market participants said.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., this week re-introduced legislation that would bar the federal government from bailing out state and local pension systems and would require state and local governments to file annual pension plan reports with the Treasury or risk losing their ability to issue tax-exempt bonds.

Several of the Supreme Court Justices seemed sympathetic with Puerto Rico’s complaints that a federal appeals court ruling striking down its debt recovery law for its utilities leaves it “in a no man’s land” where it “is not entitled to the benefits,” but “ is subject to the burdens” of Chapter 9.

Sierra Club and other environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit to stop Colorado’s $1.8 billon P3 rebuild of I-70.

Blue ribbon panel studying Seattle area’s road funding needs says mileage fee is most sustainable revenue option.