Far West

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.

Vernon, Calif., an industrial Los Angeles-area city, plans to issue $110 million in taxable electric revenue bonds for interest rate savings and to eliminate exposure to interest rate swaps.

Single-A rated Chapman University's $130 million of unsecured general obligation bonds will seek bond investors flush with cash from July 1 interest payments.

Gasoline taxes go up July 1 in six states to fund local highway projects while federal gasoline tax remains at 1993 level.

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

Reps. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., and Richard Neal, D- Mass., have introduced legislation that would increase the number of projects that could be financed by qualified small issue manufacturing bonds.

States are making plans for another short-term extension or a possible cutoff of federal transportation funding on July 31.

The Senate Finance Committee's tax reform working groups will not be submitting reports to the committee's leaders by the end of the month, as had been expected.

California’s forecast of strong revenue growth is a credit positive for both the state and local governments, according to a Moody’s Investor Service report.

Moody's Investors Service placed the ratings of 45 California tax allocation bonds on review for upgrade in conjunction with new rating agency methodology.