Rich Saskal

This week’s landmark agreement to remove four hydroelectric dams from the Klamath River assumes California voters will approve $250 million in general obligation bonds.

The blue-ribbon commission appointed to suggest reforms to California’s tax system released its formal report and recommendations Tuesday.

Meet the new California redevelopment litigation, almost the same as the old California redevelopment litigation.

SAN FRANCISCO - Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the major investor-owned electric utility for Northern California, is bankrolling a ballot measure campaign that would make it harder for governments or agencies to deliver power through community choice aggregation or to expand municipal utility territories through annexation.

SAN FRANCISCO — The California State Treasurer’s Office yesterday released more details about its general obligation bond sale next week, saying the deal will be sized at $4.5 billion and contain a mix of tax-exempt bonds and taxable Build America Bonds.

SAN FRANCISCO - The California Legislature is now expected to convene the week of Oct. 12 for a special session.

SAN FRANCISCO — The wheels are grinding slowly toward implementation of a landmark California bill authorizing public-private partnerships for transportation projects, with concerns arising from both would-be public and private participants as to how the P3 process will be implemented.

Members of Hawaii’s statewide teachers’ union Tuesday ratified a new labor agreement that will shut down public schools for 17 days over the remainder of the school year and again for the next school year. The normal school year is 180 days.

Traffic at the airport carrying the code FAT has thinned, leading Fitch Ratings Monday to move its outlook on Fresno airport revenue bonds from stable to negative. The BBB-plus rating on about $60 million of outstanding bonds was affirmed.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority on Wednesday approved an application for more than $4.5 billion in federal stimulus money to fund engineering, design and construction on its planned high-speed passenger train system.

SAN FRANCISCO - After pricing its massive $8.8 billion revenue anticipation note sale on the low end of its projected yield range yesterday, California now turns to a general obligation bond sale planned in two weeks.

The board of the Sonoma County Water Agency Tuesday formally voted to pull the plug on a water delivery project that had been projected to cost more than $600 million.

Echoing a similar report released by the state controller’s office last week, California’s Department of Finance this week reported that general fund revenue in August was lower than expected.

SAN FRANCISCO — California Attorney General Jerry Brown yesterday said he has issued subpoenas to the three major rating agencies as part of an investigation into whether they violated state law by giving high ratings to subprime mortgage-backed securities and other complicated debt instruments that proved to be worthless as the housing market bubble burst.

SAN FRANCISCO — California Attorney General Jerry Brown today announced that he has issued subpoenas to the three major ratings agencies as part of an investigation into the way they rated securities, such as those backed by subprime mortgages that later went sour as the housing market bubble burst.

CARLSBAD, Calif. - California is on track to issue about $14 billion of general obligation bonds over the next year, even as the state government continues to battle a highly unbalanced budget, Treasurer Bill Lockyer said.

CARLSBAD, Calif. - As more time passes from last year's credit crises, market access for lower-rated credits is beginning to increase, according to some panelists at yesterday's final sessions of The Bond Buyer's California Public Finance Conference.

SAN FRANCISCO — While many Californians do not feel their state government is working well, they are also skeptical of proposals to reform it, according to the results of a Public Policy Institute of California survey released last week.

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Fitch Ratings Tuesday assigned its F2 short-term rating to next week’s $8.8 billion California revenue anticipation note sale, denying the deal a trifecta of top-tier short-term ratings.

CARLSBAD, Calif. — One day after a blue-ribbon commission created to reform California’s tax code held its final meeting, experts from both sides of the political spectrum declared its proposals all but dead on arrival during a panel at The Bond Buyer’s California Public Finance Conference.