Former bond lawyer, Rep. Terri Sewell new House Municipal Caucus co-chair

Alabama Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell will take over as co-head of the House Municipal Finance Caucus as Maryland Democrat Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger retires at the end of his term.

Sewell will take the caucus helm at a key time as Congress is expected to tackle tax policy next year in a debate that municipal bond market participants worry will render the tax exemption vulnerable.

The Public Finance Network held a retirement party for Ruppersberger Thursday night in Washington, D.C. Hosted by ML Strategies and the National Association of Health & Educational Facilities Finance Authorities, the reception was billed as celebration of Ruppersberger’s career. “As Chair of the House Municipal Finance Caucus, he has been one of our biggest advocates on the Hill for municipal finance issues,” PFN said in the invitation.

Ruppersberger, who early in his career was the Baltimore County Executive, founded the caucus in 2016. It’s made up of a bipartisan group of lawmakers who have said they will support public finance priorities in Congress.

“As you know, our issues seem complicated, but have the simple end goals of saving tax dollars, investing in infrastructure and creating jobs,” he told the crowd at the reception.

Public finance regulars who attended the reception included SIFMA’s Leslie Norwood, NABL’s Brian Egan, Jessica Giroux, general counsel at American Securities Association, John Godfrey from American Public Power Association, Chuck Samuels, member at Mintz Levin and counsel to NAHEFFA, and Emily Brock, federal liaison to the Government Finance Officers Association.

“While certainly not the sexiest caucus,” Ruppersberger said, it advocates “for policies that empower states and cities to construct the buildings, roads, pipelines and on and on and on that create the communities we all call home. They are the Legos that, when snapped together, make America livable.”

It’s bipartisan composition is “very unique, especially these days,” he added.

“We’re sad to see him go, he’s been a champion for our advance refunding efforts,” said Brock. “We’re very excited Terri will be taking over the helm,” she said. “She’s on the Ways and Means committee and she’s gaining seniority every year. She also has a history of knowing and understanding the municipal bond market.”

Sewell’s Republican co-chair, Indiana Rep. Rudy Yakym is also familiar with the muni market as he formerly sat on the Indiana Finance Authority board, Brock said. Yakym joined the caucus as co-chair in March 2023 after his predecessor Rep. Jackie Walorski died in a car accident in 2022.

Sewell, a former public finance attorney, has twice introduced legislation that features major muni market priorities like restoring tax-exempt advance refunding, creating a new taxable direct-pay tool and lifting the cap for small borrower bank-qualified bonds. In May, she introduced the Local Infrastructure Financing Tools, or LIFT, Act.

Sewell introduced the same bill in 2021, though it failed to gain traction. The provisions were incorporated into an early version of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better bill, but were later stripped out.

In the Maryland campaign to take Ruppersberger’s seat, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., a Democrat and former state legislator, is expected to win over conservative radio talk show host Kimberly Klacik.