Washington

Lack of action on federal transportation funding means growth in states' use of public-private partnerships to build, fund, and operate large projects.

The Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority in Washington received a negative outlook from Standard & Poor's on its outstanding "parity" lien obligations, but the authority, known as Sound Transit, retained its AAA rating.

States on the whole will see a slight increase in their new capacity to issue private-activity bonds in 2015.

Congress is facing a big challenge in 2015 in reaching agreement on how to pay for transportation infrastructure spending.

Short-term extensions of federal transportation spending are likely to continue through 2015 as lawmakers struggle with a gasoline tax that can't pay the bills.

Credit rating agencies have made strides in implementing mandatory reforms, the SEC said in recent reports that found the raters also need to improve in several areas, including the way they handle conflicts of interest.

Washington's Performance Management Program has saved the state millions of dollars, according to a report from Gov. Jay Inslee's office.

2015 will bring a new Congress, with Republican majorities in both the House and the Senate and two new chairmen of the tax-writing committees.

Tax reform, particularly corporate tax reform, is likely to be on the agenda in 2015, congressional observers said.

Market participants discuss the outlook for tax regulation in 2015.

The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service next year will be working on further guidance on issue price, regulations finalizing other proposed arbitrage rules, and additional rulemaking projects.

State and local governments are the underdogs in influence peddling in Congress mostly because they spend little to nothing on lobbyists, in contrast to the millions of dollars spent by the big securities, banking and investment groups.

Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia formally closed on $600 million of federal loans for Silver Line rail project to Dulles Airport.

Muni bond issuers in Texas posted updated disclosures to correct previous omissions under the Securities and Exchange Commission's MCDC initiative.

Increasing interest in public-private transportation partnerships due to constraints from $3.6 trillion of state and local outstanding debt, Brookings Institution said.

Some non-dealer municipal advisors wrongly believe providing advice to an issuer in their capacity as a municipal advisors means they can also act as an intermediary between the issuer and investors.

As state and local governments struggled in the recession, debt grew faster than both revenues and expenditures, climbing 22% from $2.4 trillion in 2007 to $2.9 trillion in 2012.

The National Association of Municipal Advisors is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to create exemptions from broker-dealer and investment adviser registration for MA firms engaged in activities understood to be normal municipal advisory services.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined two firms a total of $7,500 for violations of Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules, FINRA said in its monthly disciplinary report Monday.

New York's MTA seeks up to $300 million in federal funding for infrastructure improvements for the L subway line to account for a spike in ridership.