New year brings new challenges and opportunities for tax policy

Hope is still alive for the eventual return of advance refundings, even if it may be a longshot as the 118th Congress convenes in 2023. Other priorities have virtually no chance of gaining traction in a legislature where power is split between the two major parties. The reinstatement of tax-exempt advance refunding has been the top priority of municipal market lobbyists ever since it was stripped away in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.?

Check out our latest Rising Stars and the inaugural class of Muni Hall of Famers.

The Federal Open Market Committee may cut rates next year, according to some analysts, while others expect no declines until 2024. "Outright rate cutting is unlikely to be on the table, in our view, until there is some marked worsening in the economic data, particularly on the employment front," said Kelly Bogdanova, vice president and portfolio analyst at RBC Wealth Management.

?Click here for our coverage of the midterm elections.

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The increasing number and frequency of cyberattacks against municipalities is a cause for credit concern, S&P Global Ratings says. U.S. public finance sector issuers will need to take actions in order to maintain credit quality, the rating agency said in a report this month. "We really saw these threats accelerate just before the pandemic,” said Davis Hake, co-founder and vice president of business development at Resilience, a cyber insurer.

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If you missed any of our ESG Week coverage, make sure to check our ESG special section which has all the articles, the podcast and a taped version of the Leaders event.

Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma will submit an application for up to $1.25 billion in funding under the federal regional clean hydrogen hubs program after the U.S. Department of Energy encouraged them to do so, their governors said on Tuesday. The act President Joe Biden signed into law in November 2021 earmarks up to $7 billion for DOE to develop six to 10 regional clean hydrogen hubs.

Registration is open for The Bond Buyer’s National Outlook conference Feb. 2 in New York.?

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?Municipals were weaker Wednesday as outflows from mutual funds continued. Triple-A benchmark yields were cut up to five basis points. “Muni bonds have had a tough year,” said Jason Wong, vice president of municipals at AmeriVet Securities.

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Watch the acceptance speeches and look at some of the photos from our Deal of the Year event last week in New York City.?

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee's plan to expand the scope of the state's restrictive public-private-partnership laws has met mixed reaction from state lawmakers, who reconvene in January.

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