On December 4, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Christie v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, No. 16-476, regarding the constitutionality of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”), a federal law that prohibits states from authorizing and regulating sports wagering. The case could have significant implications for legal and regulated gambling across the country, including Pennsylvania, where the General Assembly recently passed legislation that would authorize sports wagering in the Commonwealth if PASPA is found to be unconstitutional or is repealed by Congress.
Continue Reading Sports Wagering in Pennsylvania Could Soon Become a Reality

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 Act in its final form contains some provisions that hurt the tax-exempt municipal bond industry, many detrimental provisions included in prior versions of the bill were dropped.
Continue Reading House, Senate Pass Tax Cuts and Jobs Act; Private Activity Bonds Saved

After several months of negotiation, and amid a larger debate on gaming expansion, the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed Act 42 of 2017, a sweeping gambling reform bill. For municipalities in Pennsylvania, Act 42 has two notable provisions, one of limited impact on municipalities hosting casinos and the other of potentially much greater impact.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Expands Casino Gambling—What Is the Impact on Municipalities?

Last September, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck down a vital component of the Commonwealth’s Gaming Act, known as the “local share assessment” – a section of law that provides local governments with a significant funding stream backed by an assessment on certain gross revenue from casinos located in or around their municipality. The court’s ruling, prompted by a lawsuit filed by Mount Airy Casino, located in Monroe County, put in jeopardy hundreds of millions of dollars in local funding for counties and municipalities across the Commonwealth.
Continue Reading PA General Assembly Attempts Fix to Local Gaming Funding in Casino Reform Bill

Monetization is the process of converting assets into economic value. Looking for options to generate greater revenue, municipalities and public sector entities have begun to consider the transfer to private operators of a greater variety of public assets than in the past. There has also been the development recently of more creative and profitable public-private partnerships.
Continue Reading Generating Value from Public Assets

In a Notice of Proposed Rule Making published September 28, 2017, the IRS announced new proposed regulations on the public approval requirement of section 147(f) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. §147(f). A copy of the Notice can be accessed here. The announcement should not come as a surprise – IRS representatives announced earlier this year at the annual Tax and Securities Law Institute sponsored by the National Association of Bond Lawyers that the finalization of regulations interpreting section 147(f) was a regulatory priority for the agency.
Continue Reading IRS Proposes New Regulations on Public Approval Requirement for Private Activity Bonds

The Pennsylvania General Assembly continues to battle over revenue sources while the state remains without a complete state budget. And when it seems impossible, things actually continue to worsen with the House and Senate scheduled sessions to begin this afternoon. Over the weekend, the idea of a storage tax was discussed and it now seems

The ability of school districts to raise additional revenue through means other than tax increases just got a bit more difficult. In an eagerly awaited decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld the ability of taxpayers to challenge on constitutional grounds the practice in certain school districts of engaging in selective assessment appeals – that