GFOA Host Hill Briefing on Tax-exempt Municipal Bonds

As Congress continues to find a path forward for enacting a major tax reform bill this year, GFOA and other public issuer groups continue to spread the message on tax-exempt municipal bonds to keep attempts to curtail or eliminate the provision at bay. As of now, various tax provisions like the exemption are still on the table as a potential pay-for any tax bill, and we likely still have a few weeks before any text is released. During the 2017 tax debate, unexpectedly losing tax-exempt advance refunding serves as a good reminder of the possible vulnerability.

On March 18, with the help of Congressman Rudy Yakym (R-IN-02), co-chair of the House Municipal Finance Caucus, GFOA along with other Public Finance Network (PFN) partners hosted a Municipal Bonds 101 briefing on Capitol Hill. The briefing was geared towards helping staff understand the importance of municipal bonds, the various projects they help to fund, and how they save local communities billions to invest in vital infrastructure. The speakers included:

• Nancy Feldman, Chief of the Division of Fiscal Management, Montgomery County, MD and Chair of GFOA’s Committee on Governmental Debt Management
• The Honorable Paige Cognetti, Mayor of Scranton, PA
• Michael Beirne, VP of External Affairs of American Municipal Power, OH
• Robin Wiessmann, Executive Director and CEO, PA Housing Finance Agency

GFOA needs YOUR help in reaching out to your Members of Congress at this critical point. If you are able and have yet to do so, we urge you to share your stories of projects that were #builtbybonds in your jurisdiction with your Representatives and Senators. More importantly, if your Representative is one of the Republican members on the House Ways and Means Committee, any outreach you can do showing how the tax-exemption saves money for your community is critical. For resources, including template letters and bond issuance data by congressional district, please visit www.builtbybonds.com.