Muni Think

Stockton's city manager and its interim debt manager say the city's bankruptcy filing has generated much discussion — and some misinformation — regarding local government finances in California.

Recent comments by the National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors misstate the intent and value of the Dold Bill, which was approved on a bipartisan, unanimous basis by the Financial Services Committee and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Recent convictions in a series of bid-rigging trials have provided the municipal market a false sense that severely troubling conduct is in the past.

The National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors opposes passage of the Dold Amendment saying it subjects issuers to the same abuses Dodd-Frank was intended to curtail.

After last year's debt ceiling debacle, it is hard to imagine that Congress will strike a compromise to forestall the "Fiscal Cliff" facing us at the end of this year.

On September 12, the House Financial Services Committee passed, on a unanimous, bipartisan, 60-0 vote, legislation (H.R. 2827) to clarify the Dodd-Frank Act as it relates to regulating municipal advisors. The Committee’s action is notable and welcome for several reasons.

John Buckley, professor in the graduate tax program at the Georgetown University Law Center and former chief Democratic tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee, says it's time for the muni bond community to get engaged in the tax reform debate.

With less than one month left before the Volcker Rule goes into effect, questions abound as to what it will look like and how it will affect the municipal market.

James E. "Scotty" Ness is remembered as a successful investor who loved his work and enjoyed widespread respect among his peers.

We would like to address several inaccuracies and misconceptions reflected in your Aug. 17 article "Los Angeles Boots S&P Pool Rating; City Angry Over Downgrades."