Washington

Water utility executives from 47 states stormed Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to repeal a ban on the use of tax-exempt bonds for projects already benefiting from certain federal assistance.

Issuers in Colorado and Nevada separately disclosed this week that the Internal Revenue Service is conducting routine audits of bonds they issued in 2006.

The muni market may learn more about how issuers fared under the Securities and Exchange Commission's Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation initiative after they respond next month to a survey from the Government Finance Officers Association.

A federal ruling against states may set a precedent for risky local spending on broadband, credit analysts said.

The total amount of outstanding municipal securities and loans in the market rose 0.6% to $3.65 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year, as U.S. bank muni holdings increased 2.5% and mutual fund muni holdings rose to a record high $658 billion.

Given the magnitude and condition of U.S. infrastructure and the Federal push to "level the playing field" by expanding the availability of tax-exempt finance for public-private partnership procurements, the U.S. is poised to become a very active and substantial P3 market.

Road builders association says it has a plan to untangle the congressional gridlock on federal transportation funding.

The National Governors Association has written to House Speaker John Boehner to correct what it calls a "misunderstanding" underlying a recent draft online sales tax proposal made by House Judiciary Committee chair, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va.

Some pension obligation bonds can create a visible and fixed repayment plan to tackle the unfunded pension liability monster that is stealthily growing underneath the budget table of many state and local governments.

The Internal Revenue Service has advised several community development districts in Florida that they may not be political subdivisions that can issue tax-exempt bonds if they do not have public electors within five years of their bonds' issuance, a bond lawyer said.

Many bond lawyers feel that with all municipal rating agencies soon to be beaming live ratings to EMMA, the Securities and Exchange Commission should amend its rules so that issuers no longer have to worry about filing notices of upgrades and downgrades.

The Treasury Department announced on Friday that it will indefinitely suspend sales of state and local government securities beginning at noon on March 13 because of the federal debt limit.

Bond lawyers are warning their issuer clients that they are operating at their own peril if they do not spend their bond proceeds in a timely fashion, since Internal Revenue Service agents in audits are raising concerns about proceeds that are spent late or not spent at all.

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has promoted its deputy general counsel Lawrence Sandor to the newly created position of chief compliance officer.

Large financial firms can expect continued scrutiny for risk management, internal controls and governance, Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said in New York.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts has released a paper on best practices in disclosure for bank loans, an opaque segment of the municipal debt market that is getting increased attention from regulators.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is likely to propose requiring alternative trading systems to report quotation information on municipal securities to it in the future, industry officials said after listening to speakers on a federal regulatory update panel at a conference here on Monday afternoon.

The dialogue over tax reform provides an opening for state and local governments to educate members of Congress and their staff about municipal bonds, how they work and what they do.

The National Association of Bond Lawyers is asking the Internal Revenue Service to modify or withdraw a memorandum about defeasances of Build America Bonds.

The Internal Revenue Service is asserting that $25.42 million of bonds, which were issued by the California Statewide Communities Development Authority in 2005 and benefit the Sweetwater Union High School District, are taxable private-activity bonds.