GOP threat to tax-exemption may include outstanding bonds

The threat that Congress will eliminate the tax exemption on future municipal bonds poses a grim enough scenario for the municipal market, but some participants worry that the danger is even greater — that GOP lawmakers will axe the exemption for outstanding bonds.

Join your fellow leaders Thursday at The Bond Buyer's National Outlook 2025 to prepare for a pivotal year with insights from our extraordinary lineup of experts and innovators.

Several Southwest states are eying intercity or interstate passenger trains amid the region's continuing population boom but their fate remains in the hand of a new administration whose support for rail remains uncertain. A bullet train in Texas is the highest-profile of the various fledgling projects, and is expected to become once again a hot statehouse debate as lawmakers are set to consider bills filed both for and against high-speed rail.

The Bond Buyer’s Texas Public Finance 2025 conference is open for registration. Take advantage of early bird rates for the April event in Austin.

San Francisco’s commercial real estate struggles, Oakland’s looming bankruptcy concerns, and the broader economic headwinds facing the Bay Area take center stage in this week’s episode of The Bond Buyer’s podcast. Chris Thornberg of Beacon Economics and public policy analyst Marc Joffe joined senior reporter Keeley Webster to discuss the impact of hybrid work trends, housing shortages, tax policies, and what it will take for these cities to stabilize their financial futures.

Watch what the municipal bond industry’s innovators and influencers are saying in our Leaders series of video interviews. Check out our lineup of future live interviews and archived conversations.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that is supposed to start the process of creating the country's first-ever sovereign wealth fund, a proposal he had floated on the campaign trail. Trump tasked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Department nominee Howard Lutnick with creating the fund. The White House has not detailed how the fund would be capitalized, although Trump has previously said tariffs could be part of it.

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