Tax-exempt bonds

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Thursday it is expanding the Rental Assistance Demonstration program to Section 202 PRAC units that house senior citizens.

The Council of Development Finance Agencies recommends that conduit issuers cover their costs by imposing fees.

The bipartisan legislation would increase the bank-qualified cap to $30 million from $10 million, a high priority for several muni market groups.

Republican Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee touts his bill as “a good example of giving businesses an incentive to lower carbon emissions without forcing it upon them with regulations.”

The impact of defaults by non-GO bonds was negligible to nonexistent on the ratings of GO bonds issued by the same local governments.

Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat, on Wednesday delayed filing the bill in conjunction with a Public Finance Network event with congressional staff that highlighted the benefits of these bank private placements as well as advance refunding.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates there are 990,000 electric vehicles on the road this year and that number will grow to 1.5 million next year and 2.17 million in 2021.

Bank qualified debt, also known as BQ debt and bank eligible, allows banks to deduct most of the carrying cost of those bonds as a business cost.

Under the bill, if more than 65% of carbon dioxide emissions from a given facility are captured and injected underground, then 100% of the eligible equipment can be financed with PABs.

The association filed a court brief supporting Indian River County’s appeal of private activity bonds for the privately owned passenger train project.

In a Friday letter, NABL has only four suggestions for the IRS 2020 priority guidance plan on regulatory issues involving the tax-exempt bond industry, half as many as it did a year ago.

About half of the multifamily housing units built nationally that use the federal 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credit are financed with tax-exempt PABs.

The decision to release the plan signals a resolve on the part of at least some lawmakers to prioritize infrastructure legislation even though President Trump recently announced he won’t work with top congressional Democrats as long as he’s under investigation by them.

State and local governments would be able to issue tax-exempt PABs not subject to state volume caps if at least 95% or more of the net proceeds are used for green infrastructure.

GASB Statement 91 calls for conduit issuers to stop reporting conduit debt in their financial statements and to report all of it in their accompanying notes starting Dec. 15, 2020.

Officials with the private passenger train company said contractors have been hired to extend service from West Palm Beach to Orlando.

The new guidance issued Wednesday under Notice 2019-39 covers, among other things, Tribal Economic Development Bonds and direct-pay Build America Bonds.

The positive side is the bipartisan legislation for reinstatement introduced by 10 House lawmakers last week has a high possibility of being included in any infrastructure legislation that passes that chamber.

Municipal bond industry groups have been clamoring for advance refundings to be reintroduced as well as an expansion of PABs and direct-pay bonds.

Stephen Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, said P3s already work in metropolitan areas and dialogue needs to be opened with smaller cities looking at P3s.