Muni Minute: Happenings on the Hill

In this new edition of Muni Minute, we turn our focus to The Hill in Washington, D.C., as there will be lots of activity that should be of interest to the municipal market. First, the Senate Banking Committee will meet to vote on a new chairman of the SEC and then the highways and transit panel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold a hearing to consider state and local perspectives on the implementation of the current multi-year transportation bill.

VOICE OVER: Lawmakers will be busy on Capital Hill this week. On Tuesday, the Senate Banking Committee will meet in executive session to vote on the nomination of Jay Clayton, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, to become a chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. If the committee approves him, he will have to be confirmed by the full Senate.

Also that day, a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's aviation panel will hold a hearing on Building a 21st Century Infrastructure for America: Enabling Innovation in the National Airspace. That hearing may touch on passenger facility charges which airports can use to back bonds.

On Wednesday, the Highways and Transit panel of that committee will hold a hearing to consider state and local perspectives on the implementation of the current multi year transportation bill. The Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act, or FAST Act as it is called, was enacted in December 2015 and provided $305 billion over five years for federal highway and transit programs. Witnesses at the hearing will include representatives from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, the American Public Transportation Association and the US Conference of Mayors. I'm Aaron Weitzman and this has been your muni minute.