TFG has partnered with national coalitions and our municipal clients to help preserve the tax-exempt status and marketability of municipal bonds. We have helped our clients communicate to their congressional delegations the importance of tax-exempt municipal bonds as a necessary tool to build essential infrastructure in their communities. We have also been on the forefront of legislative efforts to ensure that municipal bonds are considered liquid assets for large financial institutions. If not, the cost of borrowing will increase, which will negatively impact all of our municipal clients.

Under the Department of Transportation's rules set by the moratorium on congressional earmarks in place, communities who had received funding for local transportation projects faced issues completing projects that needed slight adjustments to the scope of the project. Working on behalf of several clients, TFG raised awareness of the issue and pursued a legislative fix to the problem, including introducing a bipartisan amendment to the FAST Act. Ultimately, authority was provided in an omnibus appropriations that allows state DOT's to work with local sponsoring agencies to ensure the original funding was spent on the local projects. TFG clients were one of the first communities to take advantage of the new program.

The community of Los Osos, CA is required to improve waste water facilities to prevent polluted waters from leaching from thousands of private septic systems into Morro Bay National Estuary. The County was originally barred from competing for grant funding under the U.S. Department Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) grants and loans because Los Osos exceeded the regulatory population limit. TFG worked with the County to accurately define the area of benefit and worked with the County’s congressional delegation to secure legislation providing a population limitation waiver to Los Osos. This action allowed the County to compete for USDA funding, resulting in the largest Recovery Act grant and loan provided by RUS.