Clinton adviser sees support for reforming public finance sector.

CHICAGO - Echoing President-elect Bill Clinton's platform of change in government, one of his senior advisers said yesterday the new administration will support reforms in federal policies affecting the public finance sector.

"It won't be business as usual. There won't be chipping around the edges." Bob Nash, president of the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, said yesterday at the annual meeting of the Council of Development Finance Agencies here.

Declining to discuss specific aspects of Clinton's plan, Nash said the President-elect would favor investment tax credits and that he would support an urban enterprise zone bill.

Nash said Clinton's experience with public finance initiatives in Arkansas will serve him well when he takes office.

"He has an intricate understanding of how public finance operates and how it relates to economic development policies." Nash said.

Clinton was a key proponent in 1985 in creating the Arkansas Development Finance Authority, which issues mortgage revenue bonds and industrial development revenue bonds for projects throughout the state.

Nash said Clinton's Rebuild America plan will create improvements in such areas as transportation, information networks, and environmental technology.

"All of these [improvements] have public finance implications. And I think he is very serious about accomplishing [them]," Nash said.

Ronald Bean, executive director of the Illinois Development Finance Authority, said Nash's comments indicate the Clinton administration is willing to listen to the council's concerns.

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