Washington

President Obama threatens to veto a House committee's fiscal 2016 transportation appropriations bill over low funding levels.

Municipal issuers spent $2,000 to $18,000 to do continuing disclosure reviews under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation Initiative and the vast majority of them felt they were forced to do them, the Government Finance Officers Association said during a spirited panel discussion here Tuesday.

Dealer groups and banks remain highly concerned that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed core municipal advisor rule could limit the services they offer, while non-dealer advisors told the Securities and Exchange Commission that the proposal needs more clarification in several ways.

The Government Finance Officers Association is trying to galvanize public officials to pressure federal banking regulators into more permissive rules classifying municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets under the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) rule adopted last year.

A long-term transportation bill offered by the Senate Finance Committee would be likely to include some new type of private-activity bond, a Government Finance Officers Association official said here.

Municipal issuers need to be prepared to fight against Securities and Exchange Commission efforts to directly regulate them, members of the Government Finance Officers Associations' Committee on Governmental Debt Management said Saturday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission should not approve the outline for the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's Municipal Advisory Representative Qualification Examination because it takes an inappropriate "one-size-fits-all" approach, the Investment Company Institute told the commission in a comment letter.

The recent drought emergency declaration in Washington State provides a short-term credit positive development for the agricultural communities in the central and eastern portions of the state, Moody's Investors Service said.

A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found fault with Maryland's personal income tax collection scheme will cost localities in the state millions of dollars but may not impact their credit ratings, analysts and government officials said.

Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have given their tax-reform working groups more time to do their work.

Municipal issuers and dealers hope that the Federal Reserve's proposal to include uninsured investment-grade general obligation bonds as high-quality liquid assets under the Fed's liquidity coverage ratio requirement rule spurs other banking regulators to do the same.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that Jessica Kane will be the new director of the SEC’s Office of Municipal Securities and that Rebecca Olsen will be deputy director.

Congressional Democrats, White House may find it difficult to end short-term HTF extensions when latest one lapses.

Mayor Bill de Blasio unveils an overhaul of the New York City Housing Authority, saying the agency is mired 'in its worst financial position in more than 80 years.

Municipal market trading volume fell 13% from the first quarter of last year, according to statistics released by the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday.

The House voted 387 to 35 on a bill Tuesday night that would reauthorize surface transportation programs for another two months and avoid a cutoff of federal reimbursements to states for highway and transit projects during the busy construction season.

The House may vote Tuesday on a two-month extension of federal transportation funding that otherwise would end May 31.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined a dealer firm and fined and suspended an individual for violations of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules, FINRA revealed in its monthly disciplinary report for May.

The closure of the Treasury SLGS window has added a degree of difficulty to some refunding deals.

Allyson Belsome is returning next week to her position as senior manager for field operations in the Internal Revenue Service's tax exempt bond office, according to the IRS.