Kyle Glazier

Freight transport executives are pushing Sacramento to support California ports by making them a funding priority.

Santa Barbara, Calif., will borrow $55 million from the state to reopen a closed desalination plant as it deals with a serious drought.

Washington state will be among the biggest beneficiaries of Medicaid changes under the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings

San Francisco's $25 billion construction portfolio, including bond-financed projects, suffers from a serious lack of oversight, according to a new report from the county's Civil Grand Jury.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a new law securing revenues for general obligation bonds issued by local governments — a move designed to protect bondholders in a bankruptcy proceeding. But rating agencies have mixed feelings about whether it will be of much benefit to holders of local GOs in the nation's most populous state.

Stockton, Calif., chief financial officer Vanessa Burke, who weathered the storm of the city's bankruptcy, has joined Urban Futures, Inc.'s public management team.

The Port of Seattle is set to sell nearly $600 million of bonds next week to refund outstanding debt and to finance new projects at the city's airport and other facilities.

Standard & Poor's has downgraded Laramie County, Wyo.'s 2012 bonds issued for Cheyenne Regional Medical Center to A from A-plus.

Retired investment banker Earl Hamlin has been elected president of the Port of Oakland Board of Port Commissioners.

San Jose (Calif.) Redevelopment Agency received an upgrade to BBB from BBB-minus from Fitch Ratings affecting $1.5 billion of bonds.

Washington State's budget boosted education spending, a positive development for school districts and public universities, Moody's Investors Service said.

Standard & Poor's upgraded California's general obligation rating to AA-minus from A-plus.

Bridge Strategic Partners has become the California Statewide Communities Development Authority's new program administrator.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a state budget into law, avoiding a government shutdown and appropriating money to pay the state's bond debts.

Oregon Health and Science University will sell $100 Million of federally-taxable debt next week.

The Supreme Court has declined to hear the case of ex-Miami, Fla. budget director Michael Boudreaux, sending the former official and the city back to court to fight a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit in a move some lawyers fear could hurt municipal officials' abilities to do their jobs.

The Supreme Court's Thursday ruling that upheld the legality of federal subsidies under the Affordable Care Act is a win for the hospital sector that provides some stability through the remainder of the Obama presidency, analysts said.

The traditional funded ratio of state and local pension plans rose for the first time since the financial crisis and may continue to rise in coming years, according to a new study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

A bill that would allow an Oregon authority to issue bonds for projects in other states is headed for the governor's desk after passing through the state Senate this week.

The Alaska legislature passed a budget that avoided a possible government shutdown next month, though the state still faces a major shortfall and will need to take action if oil revenues do not improve.