Andrew Ward

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski used his final state of the state address last Friday to warn that he sees a fiscal "storm" coming unless lawmakers take action to tame the state's boom-and-bust budget cycles.

Standard & Poor's cut its rating on the City of Industry's sales tax revenue bonds to A-minus from A-plus Wednesday ahead of a $44.8 million bond sale.

California's three biggest pension funds face a shortfall of $500 billion, according to a study published by the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Los Angeles city administrative officer Miguel Santana, who was leading efforts to close the city's $212 million budget deficit, took a leave of absence last week after being arrested for alleged drunk driving.

SAN FRANCISCO — Moody's Investors Service downgraded $3.2 billion of Los Angeles bonds yesterday, as elected officials in the nation's second-biggest city battled over a plan to raise electricity rates.

SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles Controller Wendy Greuel said the nation’s second-biggest city will run out of money within a month without action from elected officials, who are stuck in a acrimonious standoff over electricity rates.

SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain, the commuter rail line that connects San Francisco to San Jose, is facing a fiscal crisis that could force it to cut half its service next year.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Los Angeles City Council unexpectedly shot down Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan to raise electricity prices to fund city electric utility’s transition to renewable energy late Friday.

Meyers Nave, an Oakland-based firm that specializes in public law hired Stephen Taber to boost its public finance practice.

California’s economy will not resume normal growth until next year, according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast of the state’s economy.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Vallejo, Calif., City Council approved a new contract with firefighters, cutting its costs and unfunded liabilities as the city moves closer to exiting bankruptcy.

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Department of Education said 12% of the state’s school districts may be unable to meet their financial obligations between now and fiscal 2012.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Board of Commissioners late Thursday approved the first part of a big rate hike to fund the utility’s renewable energy efforts, and approved the sale of $720 million of power revenue bonds.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Department of Airports plans to sell $898 million of revenue bonds next week to finance the rebuilding of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa endorsed a 22% electricity rate hike for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers to fund the city’s migration from coal to renewable energy.

SAN FRANCISCO — Standard & Poor's downgraded Vallejo's certificates of participation to an underlying C rating from B yesterday as the California city inched closer to completing a bankruptcy restructuring that may include a debt-service moratorium.

SAN FRANCISCO — Two groups gathered in the San Francisco Bay Area this week to discuss municipal bonds, public budgets and interest rate swaps.

SAN FRANCISCO — Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski yesterday appointed Multnomah County chairman Ted Wheeler to be state treasurer.

San Francisco Controller Ben Rosenfield proposed legislation Monday that would require the city to maintain a minimum general-fund balance and to create a new budget-stabilization reserve that would augment the city’s rainy-day fund.

Los Angeles Controller Wendy Greuel forecast Tuesday that the city’s general fund revenue will fall to $4.19 billion in the upcoming fiscal 2010-11 budget year.