CDFA sent a letter to the members of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs committee encouraging them to oppose S. 838, the "PACE" Act of 2017. The bill would subject PACE to TILA regulations, which would effectively kill this innovative financing tool.

Join CDFA in Washington, DC this June for the launch of our new Federal Urban Finance Forum. Limited to urban communities, the CDFA Federal Urban Finance Forum will feature a panel of development finance experts from various federal agencies, as well as representatives from America's largest urban areas to discuss the future of urban development finance.

The fiscal 2017 omnibus spending bill, which would keep the government running through September, provides $19.3 billion for the DOT. That figure is $681 million above current levels and $6.2 billion below the president's request.

Although few substantive details of the White House tax plan have been released, John R. Mousseau of Cumberland Advisors outlines 3 ways municipal bonds may benefit from tax reform based on what we know now.

The Trump Administration has released the first outline of their tax reform plans, which has both municipal issuers and supporters worried. No mention of the municipal interest exemption is mentioned in the outline, but the cost of reform has groups concerned that the exemption may be on the chopping block.

Municipal issuer groups are urging members in both chambers of Congress to support legislation that they say would help the economy and infrastructure by including investment-grade, liquid municipal securities as high-quality liquid assets under banking regulations.

A coalition of 34 transportation and labor groups sent a letter to members of the Senate Budget Committee, arguing that lawmakers must take action now to raise the revenues needed to prevent the Highway Trust Fund from going broke in 2020,

The Carbon Capture Improvement Act, introduced by Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) and Michael Bennet (D-CO), would authorize states to use private activity bonds to help finance carbon capture equipment. A companion bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) and Marc Veasey (D-TX).

Ways and Means members met with House Democrats yesterday to discuss tax reform. Chairman Brady hinted that the laws governing municipal bonds will likely remain unchanged, as long as members approve of the BAT (not discussed in The Hill's coverage).

More than $1 billion of federal highway funding that should be going to states in fiscal 2017 is in limbo unless lawmakers can agree on a transportation budget for the current fiscal year.

Development finance experts, including CDFA President & CEO Toby Rittner, argue that growing foreign investment in U.S. brownfields redevelopment projects may drop dramatically if the EB-5 program is eliminated.

The Community Development Financial Institutions Fund is tentatively planning to open the fiscal year 2017 round of the Capital Magnet Fund in June 2017. For this award round, the CDFI Fund estimates that up to $120 million will be available for Capital Magnet Fund awards.

No link between infrastructure and new revenue proposed in Trump's tax reform plan worries transportation advocates.

President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday that looks to help the US agriculture business by establishing a task force to identify impediments to the business' growth.

President Trump's $1 trillion infrastructure program is expected to be unveiled this summer. Early indications suggest the plan will receive bipartisan approval, and will not face serious opposition in Congress.

Congress let the federal tax credits for geothermal and wind power home energy systems expire at year-end 2016, but it extended the federal solar sweetener, a tax credit worth 30% off the sticker price of a solar power system for your home. Meanwhile a dozen states still offer solar, wind or geothermal tax breaks.

George Friedlander of Court Street Group Research outlines in a report the major issues confronting infrastructure projects nationally, and how they can be overcome. Many of Friedlander's suggestions echo suggestions made by CDFA in our Administrative Transition Paper and 2017 Policy Agenda.