Bill on Bankruptcy: Stockton May Win the Battle, Lose the War
Legislation reintroduced by US Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) has the potential to significantly expand the use of tax-exempt municipal bonds while creating a new “direct pay” bond. The Local Infrastructure Financing Tools (LIFT)...more
A bond issue (a debt obligation of a local government) is often perceived as a mystery for many Pennsylvania local government officials and solicitors. The securities and tax regulations governing municipal bonds have grown...more
As local governments head into budget preparation and planning season, we want to make sure you are aware of important changes the North Carolina legislature made to the general obligation bond referendum process. On July 8,...more
On September 13, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced a settlement with investment advisory firm Buckman Advisory Group LLC (“Buckman Advisory”) and its CEO Harry Buckman Jr. to settle...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged two chief financial officers of school districts with misleading investors in municipal bond offerings. This should be a warning to municipal CFOs to be very...more
During the 2022 Legislative Session, the General Assembly passed, and the Governor signed into law, HB 5506, commonly referred to as the Implementer (the “New Law”). For municipalities issuing bonds and refunding bonds,...more
On March 16, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Crosby (Texas) Independent School District (Crosby) and its former Chief Financial Officer, Carla Merka, with misleading investors in a $20 million municipal...more
On September 16, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) entered an order against a school district (Sweetwater Union High School District (the “District”) in San Diego County, California) and charged the school...more
The Supreme Court of the State of New Jersey upheld the New Jersey COVID-19 Emergency Bond Act (the Act), authorizing the State to issue up to $9.9 billion in state borrowing either through general obligation bonds or...more
It is hard to assess the long-term economic effects of COVID-19, but it is clear that the short-term and mid-term effects on the markets are and will be significant. This is especially true for stakeholders in the tax-exempt...more
The European Central Bank has launched a EUR 750 billion bond purchase programme designed to mitigate the enormous economic and financial risks to the Eurozone caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The creation of the "Pandemic...more
Saudi Aramco’s slow trickle of IPO-related information continued this weekend, including its goal of setting overall company market value at a staggering $1.7 trillion. The figure, though massive, is still well short of the...more
House Bill 3967, titled the “Municipal Bond Market Support Act of 2019”, was introduced by Alabama Representative Terri Sewell and New York Representative Tom Reed with the purpose of increasing the amount of tax-exempt bonds...more
...Federal, state and local governments spent $440 billion on transportation and water infrastructure in 2017, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In September 2018, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)...more
Economic Commentary - The U.S. economy continues to show signs of improvement. Unemployment fell to 3.7 percent, and second quarter GDP grew to an annualized rate of 4.2 percent, which is the highest rate of growth since...more
On September 26-28 the National Association of Bond Lawyers held an annual gathering called the Bond Attorneys' Workshop, which consisted of a series of subject-specific meetings discussing topics in municipal finance. Most...more
On December 22, 2017, the President signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Final Bill”) into law, bringing an end to the nearly two-month rollercoaster ride that had the public finance industry white-knuckled and a little...more
2018 will be a year of monumental tax law changes following the recent approval by the House and Senate of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law in the coming days. While the...more
UPDATE: In the early morning hours of Saturday, December 2, 2017, the United States Senate, by a vote of 51-49, approved its version of H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, commonly referred to as the Senate’s tax bill....more
With the termination of tax-exempt advance refunding bonds squarely in the crosshairs of the tax reform measures making their way through both houses of Congress, the municipal market needs to consider the impact of the loss...more
The Senate Finance Committee unveiled a section-by-section description of its tax reform package on November 9, 2017, including municipal bond provisions that reject efforts by the House Ways and Means Committee to terminate...more
Last week the House Republican leadership unveiled its much anticipated US tax reform bill. The bill proposes the most sweeping changes to the tax code in 30 years—since the 1986 Tax Act, which by the way imposed many of the...more
On November 9, 2017, the House Ways and Means Committee approved H.R. 1 -- the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act -- which now is teed up for approval by the full House of Representatives. A few hours later, Senate Finance Committee...more
On November 2, 2017, the House Committee on Ways and Means released a draft of its Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Bill”). The Tax Bill proposes to eliminate the federal tax exemption of interest income from all private...more
Only one week after Congressman Kevin Brady, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, announced "very strong bipartisan support" for the preservation of the tax exemption for municipal bonds, H.R. -- the Tax Cuts and...more