Washington

With the threat to tax exempt municipal bonds looming in a Congress searching for pay-fors, private activity bonds supporting hospitals and higher education are high on the list of potential first targets.

Texas investor John Kleinheinz now controls Texas Central, which has spent more than a decade trying to build the Dallas-to-Houston high speed train.

Anna Paulson, executive vice president and director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, will replace outgoing Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker.

The MSRB's rate card RFI and municipal fund securities will be among agenda topics at next week's quarterly board meeting.

"Settlor's remorse" is no justification for upsetting a settled order, SEC says.

Rep. French Hill and committee leaders urged House Ways and Means to protect tax-exempt municipal bonds as Congress gears up to tackle tax policy.

The Senate's move to rely on an untested accounting method for the reconciliation bill contributes to the lack of clarity around future deficits, the ratings agency said.

Congress leaves town for a two-week recess without settling a financial dispute with the District of Columbia over which budget they are allowed to use as the mayor's financial team announces plans to exercise a 2009 law that will boost a supplemental budget by 6%.

Draft reconciliation bill text could be released within the next few weeks, said Brett Bolton, vice president of federal legislative and regulatory policy at the Bond Dealers of America.

Harvard University braved the most volatile market in years this week to price a $750 million taxable deal. Princeton is hot on its heels.