Defying all odds, the 50/50 split Senate and the Biden Administration has reached an agreement on a bipartisan infrastructure package and moved into the formal debate by a vote of 62-37. The 1 trillion dollar package, including nearly $600 billion in new spending, would also expand usage of private activity bonds for various purposes, including raising…
Category: Muni Market Advocacy
Advocacy during the Covid-19 crisis
Ways and Means Holds Hearing on State and Local Tax Tools
MBFA to Submit Comments in Support of Muni Priorities The House Committee on Ways and Means today hosted a hearing titled, “Tax Tools to Help State and Local Governments.” The hearing featured witnesses from all levels of state and local government, representing a swath of the Public Finance Network (PFN) in which the BDA…
The Democratic Municipal Bond Market
*In response to a Barron’s story from September 22, 2020 In “‘You’re Cornered if You’re a City.’ How Concentration in the Municipal Bond Market Is Raising Borrowing Costs” (Barron’s, September 22, 2020), Garphil Julien tries to make the case that a “concentration of power” among banks and securities firms in the municipal bond market harms…
Fed Expands Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility
Today, the New York Fed announced it will be expanding the SMCCF and will purchase individual bonds along with the currently traded ETF’s. Under the new guidelines, the Fed will buy individual bonds on the secondary market that have remaining maturities of five years or less The updated term sheet can be viewed here. **All BDA…
BDA to Join CDFA in Support of Industrial Development Bonds Legislation
The BDA is joining forces with the Council of Development Finance Agencies in support of the Modernizing Agricultural and Manufacturing Bonds Act (MAMBA). The bill, sponsored by Reps. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and Darin LaHood (R-IL), would modernize the Internal Revenue Code as it relates to small issue bonds, specifically the private activity bond rules for first-time farmers…
Ways and Means Continues Work on Surface Transportation Bill
Tax Provisions Expected Later this Month The BDA has learned that the House Committee on Ways and Means today will conduct an internal conference call to discuss next steps in development of the tax title to the recently introduced Invest in America Act, a reauthorization bill focused on surface transportation and environmental impacts. Many expect…
House Legislators Urge Fed to Expand Municipal Liquidity Facility
Coincides with BDA Lobbying Efforts to Expand MLF Yesterday, a bipartisan group of House legislators wrote the Fed asking to further lower the population thresholds for issuer participation in the Municipal Liquidity Facility (MLF). This follows the BDA’s April 15th letter in which the BDA urged the Fed to expand the scope of the MLF, stating that…
BDA Calls on Fed to Include all Banks and Dealers who Provide Liquidity in Emergency Programs
Today, the BDA submitted additional comments to the Federal Reserve on their continued intervention in the capital markets to discuss market structure, and the need to expand their emergency programs to include all banks and dealers who provide liquidity to the market. The letter can be viewed here. **All BDA COVID-19 correspondence can be viewed here.…
Fed Publishes MLF Sample Purchase Rates
Today, the New York Fed published the first sample purchase rates for the Municipal Liquidity Facility, and plans to release new rates each week solely to provide indicative pricing information to market participants. The MFL Sample Purchase Rates can be viewed here. Key Points: Actual transactions will be priced according to the specifics of each transaction…
Federal Housing Finance Authority Follows BDA Recommendation for Agency Capital Requirement
Today, the Federal Housing Finance Authority (FHFA) released a proposal setting capital requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in an effort to move the agenciesout of federal government control. The release follows BDA recommendations that agencies should be allowed to retain profits to grow capital. *The BDA GSE White Paper can be viewed here. The…