BQ Bill Introduced in Time for August Recess – What You Need to Know

The House of Representatives concluded business last Friday with legislators heading to their home districts for the August recess. The Senate will follow suit after completing business at the end of the week, and lawmakers in both chambers are set to resume legislative work on September 9th.

Before heading to their home districts, lawmakers in the House managed to pass legislation that lifts the debt ceiling and sets spending limits for the next 2 fiscal years. The Senate is expected to approve the measure this week before leaving town. Agreeing on budget limits and suspending the debt ceiling will help stave another politically dangerous shutdown while easing the concerns in the financial markets.

With lawmakers back home, now is the time for GFOA members to be heard by contacting your representative. Hearing from constituents in their home districts is a powerful way to advocate to members of Congress and the GFOA needs your support!

Support Bank Qualified Debt/Small Issuer Exceptions

On July 25th, Representatives Terri Sewell (D-AL) and Tom Reed (R-NY) introduced HR 3967 to expand access to financial resources for local governments, non-profits and other public serving entities that issue relatively smaller amounts of tax-exempt debt. The bill would increase the annual limit on designating bank qualified bonds from $10 million to $30 million, permanently peg the limit to inflation, and apply the new limit to the individual borrower, as opposed to any conduit issuer borrowers might work through.

By making the proposed changes in the bill more tax-exempt bonds can be deemed as “bank qualified”, allowing borrowers that issue less than $30 million per calendar year to forgo traditional underwriting processes. These changes would expand access to resources for many public serving infrastructure projects & services including schools, hospitals, roads and more.

The FLC encourages all GFOA members to reach out to their representatives and ask them to cosponsor this bill. If you are interested in finding more information to support your advocacy do not hesitate to contact the FLC for more information.

Support Advance Refunding

A bill to restore advanced refunding in the federal tax code, HR 2772, the Investing in Our Communities Act, was introduced in the House and referred to the Committee on Ways & Means on May 15th. The push for HR 2772 is being led by the co-chairs of the House Municipal Finance Caucus, Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) and Steve Stivers (R-OH).

The FLC will continue to advocate for this important legislation and all GFOA members are encouraged to reach out to their representatives and ask them to cosponsor this bill. The FLC has produced multiple research and advocacy materials to inform Congress of the impact the loss of advance refunding has had on public finance officers and the communities they serve.

Government Finance Officers of America



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