Yesterday (March 12, 2019), the BDA in partnership with Build America Mutual, hosted a Capitol Hill fly-in to discuss the importance of tax-exempt municipal bonds in the financing of our nation’s infrastructure. The day began with a breakfast briefing titled, “Infrastructure Financing and Municipal Bonds.” The briefing featured BDA members Ronald Bernardi, Bernardi Securities, and Stephen Heaney, Stifel, and was moderated by Sean McCarthy, BAM.
The event served as a kick off to a quarterly DC fly-in series. The series will be designed to allow BDA membership to engage directly with legislators and regulators to increase the BDA’s presence and continue to grow the organizations status as the premier fixed-income advocacy organization in Washington, DC. With evolving market dynamics, and changes in the Washington, D.C. legislative landscape, 2019 is setting up to be an active year for the BDA.
Capitol Hill Meetings
Directly following the briefing, BDA members divided into groups led by staff to discuss policy priorities with senior staff for key Ways and Means Committee Members and those involved with the House Municipal Finance Caucus.
BDA Participants include:
- Ronald Bernardi, Bernardi Securities
- Stephen Heaney, Stifel
- Chris Brigati, Advisors Asset Management
- Scott Dorsey, Wells Fargo
- Gregg Bienstock, Lumesis
Key Meetings included:
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- Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) Vice-Chair of House Ways and Means and former bond counsel
- Rep. Gwenn Moore (D-WI) Member of House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures
- Rep. Darin LaHood (R-IL) House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Tax Policy and Oversight
- Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) Member of House Ways and Means and former county treasurer
- Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) Co-Chair of the Municipal Finance Caucus
BDA PAC Fundraiser
The BDA hosted a fundraiser for Rep. Steve Stivers (R-OH) who has been recently named as Co-Chairman of the House Municipal Finance Caucus. Mr. Stivers talked at length about the importance of municipal finance and the upcoming legislation he co-authored that would fully reinstate tax-exempt advance refunding bonds. As a former banker and a current Member of the House Financial Services Committee, Mr. Stivers is very knowledgeable on the issue and looks forward to continue work with the BDA as the legislation moves forward.
