No Bond Provisions Expected to be Included
Today, following a 2 hour Oval Office meeting last night with a group of senior Republican Senators and the President and Vice-President, stimulus discussions seem to be heating up. Democrats remain adamant that the package should be around $2 trillion dollars and contain direct and unencumbered funding for state and local governments, while the GOP Senators are proposed $900 million with no state and local funds.
While hopes for a bipartisan deal are still alive, House and Senate Leadership are moving forward with a budget reconciliation bill that would allow both chambers to pass a stimulus package along party lines if talks fall through. This was the method used for the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and can only be used once a budget year.
While at this time there is a little discussion to include any municipal bond or other infrastructure provisions within the stimulus package, the BDA remains bullish that these issues will come up for consideration in 2021.
The BDA continues to work with our partners on Capitol Hill and in the Public Finance Network (PFN) to ensure that municipal bond provisions are well placed and considered as Congress works on additional 2021 measures such as infrastructure and public works.
The BDA has also relaunched the Municipal Bonds for America Council, a municipal bond buy-side / sell-side advocacy group to continue and strengthen municipal lobbying here in DC.
We will continue to provide updates as the Council continues to grow and formalize.
