Far West

The California Economic Summit is urging state lawmakers to enact a new law that would give local governments broader authority in creating infrastructure financing districts.

Hawaii plans to sell $150 million in bonds in November to fund a program that will provide low-interest loans targeting residents with poor credit or low income who want to install energy savings devices like solar panels on their homes.

Portland, Ore. priced $290 million of revenue bonds this week to fund capital improvements to its sewer system and refund outstanding debt.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced that he is conducting his second annual review of every city department as part of his commitment to improve accountability and performance measurement in city government.

Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is urging voters to press lawmakers for a long-term solution to federal highway funding before the end of 2014, but industry experts don't expect Congress to take action until spring 2015 at the earliest.

Orange County Transportation Authority, Calif., received a two-notch ratings bump on its senior lien toll road revenue bonds to AA-minus from Standard & Poor's on Tuesday.

After almost two years of preparation, an adverse ruling Monday on the hotel sales tax that would have funded the majority of San Diego's planned convention center expansion sends city leaders back to the drawing board.

Kym Arnone, managing director at Barclays Capital, will become the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's new chair beginning Oct. 1.

California Governor Jerry Brown is pushing a scaled-down $6 billion water bond to go on the November ballot as other bond proposals in the state legislature remain stalled.

If the State of California wants to maximize refunding savings then the Legislature should authorize "oversight boards" to issue refunding bonds on behalf of successor agencies.