Washington

The clock is ticking on Congress waiving PAYGO for Build America Bonds, a budget bear trap that could delay promised subsidy payments totaling $14 billion to issuers.

Municipal issuers pushed hard but unsuccessfully against the bill, which gives them four years to standardize their financial information.

Outflows returned as Refinitiv Lipper reported $1.217 billion was pulled out of municipal bond mutual funds for the week ending Wednesday after $46.912 million of inflows the week prior.

Must-pass spending bills and a debt ceiling fight are in the near future.

The regulation would establish a universal standard requiring dealers in any transaction with a customer to use reasonable diligence to get the customer the best price.

The Fed chairman said he believes the Fed is getting close to a sufficiently restrictive level, but they're not quite there. While two good inflation reports are good, "there's still a long way to go to price stability."

Expanded use of stimulus funds, fully funded water infrastructure grant programs and housing assistance are among the asks from League of Cities as Congress crafts a 2023 spending package.

The change would give broker dealers, municipal securities dealers and municipal advisors until Jan. 31 to annually affirm the information on Form A-12, among other changes.

The CPI report showed inflation had slowed to 7.1%, giving investors confidence the Federal Open Market Committee will hike rates 50 basis points as expected following Wednesday's much-anticipated meeting.

The latest version of a controversial financial disclosure bill includes changes that benefit muni issuers after a major push by the public finance lobby.