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A series of municipal debt reform proposals have been reintroduced in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Versions of these proposals have been introduced in every legislative session dating back to the 2013-2014 term, although the proposals have changed somewhat over the years. This session’s bills are number SB 490 through SB 493.

As with bills from past sessions, the current proposals would change the way municipalities obtain approval from the Department of Community and Economic Development (“DCED”) to issue bonds, notes or other public debt, as well as make a number of reforms to those current provisions governing interest rate swaps, performance bonds and municipal authority projects.Continue Reading Municipal Debt Reform Proposals Reintroduced in State Senate

At its meeting on March 1, 2017, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to formally propose and publish for comment amendments to Rule 15c2-12 to add two additional disclosure events to written continuing disclosure undertakings required to be obtained by underwriters in primary securities offerings.
Continue Reading SEC Proposes Amendments to Rule 15c2-12 to Address Bank Loan Disclosure Concerns

McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC was ranked fifth in Pennsylvania in the 2016 Bond Counsel Rankings by The Bond Buyer. The firm also was ranked fourth in Pennsylvania in the 2016 Bond Underwriter’s Counsel, and is one of just two firms to appear in the top five in both lists.
Continue Reading McNees Ranked in Top 5 for Bond Counsel and Underwriter’s Counsel in Pennsylvania for 2016

Who has not heard of the Bridgegate scandal?  The George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River between New Jersey and New York City is the busiest motor vehicle bridge in the world.  Two of three toll lanes for a street entrance from Fort Lee, NJ to the George Washington Bridge were closed for five days in September 2013.  This resulted in huge backups in Fort Lee.  As one of the individuals convicted in the incident emailed, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”
Continue Reading Bond Issue Disclosure: When Politics and the Law Intersect

McNees attorney Steve Matzura recently covered for the McNees Energy and Environmental User Blog the proposal by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) of a new rule that would expand the scope of its current authority over projects that withdraw and use water in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York. Per Steve’s analysis:

The proposal would…

Just a few short months after essentially re-writing the rules on management contracts for bond-financed property, the IRS is at it again. On January 17th the IRS gave advance notice of the publication of Revenue Procedure 2017-13. While Rev. Proc. 2017-13 won’t officially be published until February 6th, the IRS has made a copy of the new guidance available immediately for review.
Continue Reading IRS Announces Additional Guidance on Management Contracts for Bond-Financed Facilities

Following its announcement in August that it had entered into settlements with over seventy municipal issuers in connection with the Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) initiative, there was speculation as to whether additional settlements would be announced, or if this first round of settlements represented all of the enforcement actions against municipal issuers that…

In this podcast, McNees Public Finance attorney Tim Horstmann discusses the recent announcement by the Internal Revenue Service of a major change in its treatment of management contracts entered into by governmental entities and nonprofit associations exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

View the podcast here.

Prefer…

Municipalities have been looking for new ways to “monetize” publicly owned assets to help fund pension obligations and relieve budgetary pressures. Especially attractive is the transfer of a municipal water or wastewater system to a private operator.

Such a transfer may be accomplished by entering into a long-term lease with a private operator, under what…

In the first federal jury trial against a municipality for securities law violations, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on September 14, 2016 successfully obtained a verdict against the City of Miami and a former city official for violations of various anti-fraud provisions of  US securities laws.  The SEC is seeking injunctive relief and…