Far West

In the Flint, Mich., case, Congress seems to be making clear it will increase its criticism of state and local leaders, but avoid any fiscal or moral responsibility.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority could ask voters to approve an additional half cent sales tax in addition to extending one passed in 2008 to fund $120 billion of transportation projects.

Mississippi state senators approve a placeholder measure that keeps a proposed gas tax increase on the table.

Fitch Ratings’ recent guidance on school bond ratings won’t bring across-the-board higher ratings to California school bonds; the agency will require a legal opinion to consider such GO bonds to be special revenues in a bankruptcy case.

Junk-rated California hospital chain Verity Health received an outlook boost Wednesday, when Standard & Poor’s boosted its outlook to stable from negative while affirming its CCC rating.

The West Contra Costa Unified School District’s settlement of a lawsuit over parcel tax revenues is a potential credit hit for parcel tax levying school districts in California and a boost for charter school credits, Moody’s Investors Service said.

The best execution rule, which took effect this week, may solidify a market shift concentrating retail customers in a few large firms, while others seek just to keep their institutional business running smoothly, market participants said.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., this week re-introduced legislation that would bar the federal government from bailing out state and local pension systems and would require state and local governments to file annual pension plan reports with the Treasury or risk losing their ability to issue tax-exempt bonds.

Several of the Supreme Court Justices seemed sympathetic with Puerto Rico’s complaints that a federal appeals court ruling striking down its debt recovery law for its utilities leaves it “in a no man’s land” where it “is not entitled to the benefits,” but “ is subject to the burdens” of Chapter 9.

Fitch Ratings says that California school general obligation bonds meet its “high bar” to determine if the revenue backing bonds would be considered special revenues in a bankruptcy, and therefore more secure.