With the Federal elections over, and the new administration taking shape, we want to keep you updated with key shifts in power happening in DC.
Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) looks increasingly likely to to become the next Ranking Member of the Ways & Means Committee in the House of Representatives. Mr. Neal has been a friend of municipal bonds and both the BDA and the MBFA coalition have worked with Rep. Neal and his staff for years as we continuously advocated for maintaining the tax exempt status for municipal bonds.
Specifically, Mr. Neal has been a leader in the following ways:
- He is an original co-sposor of the Municipal Bond Market Support Act, which would increase the annual volume limit for bank qualified bonds from $10 Million to $30 Million, permit the use of pooled financings and calculate the volume cap at the issuer, rather than issuance, level
- He wrote the primary legislative text for the original Build America Bond provisions and has introduced legislation in every Congress since, to revive the program and to also make it sequestration-proof
- He supported a resolution commemorating the 100 year anniversary of municipal bonds; and
- He has personally attended a BDA Board of Directors Meeting in Washington, DC where he spoke about the important role municipal bonds play in our daily lives
Mr. Neal is formerly the Mayor of Springfield, MA and understands how important it is to manage costs for state and local governments as they strive to build and renovate infrastructure in their local communities.
The House Ways & Means Committee will be drafting significant changes to the U.S. tax code this coming year and Mr. Neal’s experience, leadership and familiarity with municipal bonds will be a net-positive for our industry.
We will continue to monitor changes in the committees with jurisdiction over the issues we care about and will alert you when any notable changes occur.
We hope this information is valuable. Please reach out to the BDA for any questions or comments.
Justin Underwood at jundewood@bdamerica.org
