Washington

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

For the first time in the municipal securities market, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged a municipal advisory firm, its chief executive officer, and two of its employees for breaching their fiduciary duty by failing to disclose a conflict of interest to a municipal client.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday introduced another bill that would give Puerto Rico broad debt restructuring capabilities.

Washington electric utility Energy Northwest will sell nearly $500 million of refunding bonds later this month.

Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders released a plan for Puerto Rico on Monday that proposes extending Chapter 9 bankruptcy protections to the commonwealth’s municipalities and contains several healthcare and environmental initiatives.

A two-year reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration under consideration this week by a Senate committee would provide more federal funding for runways and other infrastructure while keeping the revenue source used to back bonds financing terminal projects at its current level.

Bond lawyers on Thursday criticized the political subdivision rules recently proposed by the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service, claiming they would trample states’ rights, alter the landscape for public financing, and jeopardize the tax-exempt status of millions of dollars of municipal bonds.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said a senior member of U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s legislative delegation reaffirmed a commitment to prompt action that would give the commonwealth the tools for a debt restructuring.

Washington State Treasurer James McIntire wants Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service to create a safe harbor for competitive sales of muni bonds in their re-proposed issue price rules.

A $1 trillion shortfall in public pension plans is rooted in poor governance, think tank Manhattan Institute for Policy Research reported.