Rich Saskal

An oversight committee Tuesday urged the bond-funded California Institute for Regenerative Medicine to improve its transparency and accountability. CIRM was created as part of a 2004 ballot measure that authorized $3 billion in state general obligation bonds to finance stem-cell medical research.

The state Legislative Analyst’s Office on Tuesday lambasted one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s highest-profile proposals for the year: a constitutional amendment that would require California, starting in 2014, to dedicate no more than 7% of its general fund spending to prisons and at least 10% to public universities.

SAN FRANCISCO — Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, in her final state of the state address Monday, called for a beefed-up rainy-day fund and a bond program to help property owners finance clean-energy systems and energy-efficiency upgrades.

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court Monday tossed out felony charges against five of the six San Diego officials charged with violating state conflict-of-interest laws in connection with decisions they made that led to underfunding of the city employee pension fund.

SAN FRANCISCO — A California Senate committee has approved a bill designed to clear up legal concerns that have prevented the issuance of more than $770 million of qualified school construction bonds.

SAN FRANCISCO — Get cracking on the budget. Or California faces another ugly cash crisis.

Newly installed Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn wants to ask voters to approve a $241 million bond measure to replace the deteriorating seawall along the city’s waterfront.

The first bill to pass the Washington House this year is an $861 million general obligation bond measure, and Treasurer Jim McIntire immediately came out against it, saying it would hurt the state’s credit rating.

There will be another new face in the California legislative leadership, after the Assembly’s minority Republicans Tuesday voted to make Carlsbad Assemblyman Martin Garrick the next GOP leader.

The California treasurer’s office announced Wednesday that it has revamped its Internet home page.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday named Cynthia Bryant as a chief deputy director in the Department of Finance.

SAN FRANCISCO — Efforts in California to develop community choice aggregation as an alternative path to public power have been slow to get off the ground.

SAN FRANCISCO — The often contentious relationship between California and its local governments appears to be ­heading back to the electoral battlefield this year.

In her state of the state address Tuesday, Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire urged lawmakers to consider new revenue to protect key programs.

In his combined state of the state and budget address Tuesday, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter proposed a fiscal 2011 budget that he said includes no spending increases, and also recommended additional cuts to the state’s current year spending plan.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer will have an opponent in November.

SAN FRANCISCO — Citing California’s “severe” budget imbalance and the likely reappearance of cash-flow problems, Standard & Poor’s yesterday downgraded the state’s general obligation bond rating to A-minus from A. The agency continues to assign a negative outlook.

SAN FRANCISCO — Standard & Poor’s today downgraded California’S general obligation debt one notch, to A-minus from A.

SAN FRANCISCO — Not only is California facing a huge budget deficit, but lawmakers and the governor have a very short time to fix it to keep things from getting farther out of balance, the state’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office reported Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO — The builders of what they say will be the biggest water desalination plant in the nation are now slated to ask for more than one-half billion dollars of private-activity bond allocation by the end of the month.