ASA: Banking Committee Should Support Municipal Bonds for Infrastructure Investment

WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) sent a letter to the Senate Banking Committee leadership outlining its municipal bond advocacy priorities ahead of a hearing examining the long-term economic benefits and impacts from federal infrastructure and public transportation investment.

“The ASA strongly believes that robust investment in America's infrastructure is critically important to job creation, economic growth and stability, and to improve the quality of life for all Americans,” said ASA President and CEO Chris Iacovella. “As the Banking Committee considers initiatives to address our nation's infrastructure needs, we urge you to focus on policies that will maximize the impact of this investment without imposing undue burdens on communities, small businesses or American working families saving for their futures.”

In the letter, ASA urged the Committee to prioritize the following municipal bond and fixed income policies:

1. Preserve the municipal bond tax-exemption

2. Promote taxable municipal bonds for large, interstate projects

3. Reinstate advance refundings for municipal bonds

4. Create a new form of Direct Pay bonds

5. Modernize the small borrower’s exception

6. Expand eligibility and state allowances for private activity bonds (PABs)

To read ASA’s full letter to the Committee, click here.

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The American Securities Association (ASA) represents the retail and institutional capital markets interests of regional financial services firms who provide Main Street businesses with access to capital and advise hardworking Americans how to create and preserve wealth. ASA’s mission is to promote trust and confidence among investors, facilitate capital formation, and support efficient and competitively balanced capital markets. This mission advances financial independence, stimulates job creation, and increases prosperity. The ASA has a geographically diverse membership of almost one hundred members that spans the Heartland, Southwest, Southeast, Atlantic, and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States.