It appears that a number of labor unions are planning for the potential negative impact of a big decision regarding fair share fees.  We have heard from several public sector clients who have been contacted directly, or who have had employees contacted, by labor unions about the potential impact of Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, which is currently pending before the United States Supreme Court.  The case, which could ultimately declare fair share fees unlawful, is expected to be released before the end of June of 2018. Continue Reading Some Unions Planning for Impact of Big Decision on Fair Share Fees

On Monday, May 14, the United States Supreme Court announced its eagerly awaited decision in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association and, as many expected, struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), a federal law that prohibits states from authorizing and regulating sports wagering. Continue Reading Supreme Court Opens Door to Sports Betting in all Fifty States

On December 12, 2017, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (FRB) issued Notice 2017-26761 (82 FR 58397, Docket Number OP-1573) expressing its intent to begin publication during the second quarter of 2018 of three overnight repurchase transaction reference rates.  The FRB began publication of these rates through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on April 3, 2018. Continue Reading Federal Reserve Board Now Publishing SOFR And Other Alternative Repo Rates

McNees attorney Claudia Shank recently authored a series of blog posts on the McNees Land Use Blog on the Supreme Court’s revival of the Environmental Rights Amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution. The Environmental Rights Amendment provides in pertinent part:

Pennsylvania’s public natural resources are the common property of all the people including generations yet to come.  As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of the people.

The Court’s revival of the Environmental Rights Amendment has repercussions for municipalities, as the Commonwealth’s trustee obligations “are not vested exclusively in any single branch of Pennsylvania’s government”; rather, “all agencies and entities of the Commonwealth government, both statewide and local, have a fiduciary duty to act toward the corpus with prudence, loyalty, and impartiality.”

Head on over to the McNees Land Use Blog for Claudia’s complete analysis.

On May 11, 2016, the Department of Treasury, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) published its final rule (81 FR 29298) on required “know your customer” due diligence procedures (Rule).  The Rule established a compliance deadline of May 11, 2018 for all “covered financial institutions.” Continue Reading Fincen Customer Due Diligence Rule Compliance Deadline Approaches

When Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) late last year, a much-heralded provision of TCJA was the reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate, from 35% to 21%. However, that reduction has had unforeseen consequences for the municipal bond industry. The reduction in the tax rate is expected to result in efforts by banks to increase the interest rates charged by banks for current outstanding loans to municipalities and 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations. Whether a bank may increase the interest rate on a loan will depend on the language of the loan documents. Even if the loan documents permit the bank to unilaterally increase the interest rate, some banks may be hesitant to do so, as the request is may be received poorly, potentially jeopardizing the bank’s ongoing relationship with the borrower. Continue Reading Continuing Disclosure in the Municipal Bond Market: Importance of Compliance

On April 11, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service published Revenue Procedure 2018-26, a copy of which can be accessed here, which provides new guidance to issuers on the availability of remedial actions to preserve the tax-advantaged status of their bonds in the face of a violation of the tax rules. Rev. Proc. 2018-26 applies to tax-advantaged bonds generally, i.e. traditional tax-exempt bonds under section 103 of the Code, as well as federally taxable bonds that carry with them tax credit or direct pay subsidy benefits. Continue Reading IRS Issues Guidance on Remedial Actions for Tax-Advantaged Bonds

On March 22, 2018, a cyberattack hit the City of Atlanta.  A ransomware program infected the City’s computer systems.  That malware encrypted the city’s files, and officials believe it may also have provided unauthorized access to the City’s data to a group of hackers (although, the City says it has not yet “seen any evidence that personal information has been misused as a result”).  The hackers demanded a ransom payment of six bitcoin (valued at approximately $50,000). Continue Reading Atlanta Cyberattack Shows Importance of Cybersecurity for Municipalities

On March 29, 2018, the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL) formally requested guidance from the IRS regarding the ability of municipal issuers to issue tax-exempt advance refunding bonds to refund taxable bonds after the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The request comes on the heels of public statements by Treasury and IRS representatives regarding their belief that notwithstanding the passage of TCJA, municipal issuers may continue to issue tax-exempt advance refunding bonds to refund taxable bonds, so long as the taxable bonds to be refunded are not tax-advantaged bonds such as Build America Bonds, and the refunding otherwise complies with the requirements of section 149 of the Code and the regulations thereto. Continue Reading NABL Requests IRS Guidance on Tax-Exempt Advance Refundings of Taxable Bonds

Sewage backups tend to make relationships between landowners and their municipal sewer authorities rather, well, messy.  When property is impacted by a sewer authority’s negligence, landowners would typically find a remedy in a trespass action.  However, a recent decision by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania holds that repeated sewage backups may cause a de facto taking under the Pennsylvania Eminent Domain code, requiring compensation to the landowner.  This is yet another area of concern and possible liability for municipal authority operators. Continue Reading Sewer Authorities Could Owe Compensation for Repeated Sewage Overflows