Far West

Beginning Aug. 20, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's Municipal Swap Index will use only data that has been reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board in its weekly benchmark calculation.

San Bernardino has reached a tentative agreement with its police union just two months after it struck an agreement with the California Public Employee's Retirement System.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating West Contra Costa, Calif. United School District and its general obligation bond financings dating back to 2009.

The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously approved AB 2235, creating a bond for $4.3 billion - less than half of the $9 billion in the original school facilities bill on Thursday.

Unable to recover from its financial woes, the Doctors Medical Center in Contra Costa County is being pressured to close or significantly downsize, which could impose a financial burden on the county, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Though New Jersey and California are on starkly different credit paths, municipal analysts said their recent trading patterns suggest equally-strong demand.

Moody's Investors Service on Thursday upgraded San Diego County's issuer rating to Aaa and bumped up its lease and pension obligation bond ratings a notch to Aa2.

Personal income taxes and possibly all state taxes appear to be down in the second quarter of this year based on preliminary data, the Rockefeller Institute of Government of the State University of New York said in a report released Thursday.

The Fannin County Public Facility Corp. in Texas has settled tax law violations with the Internal Revenue Service by agreeing to pay $1.75 million and redeem all of the outstanding bonds from the $30.78 million it issued in 2008 to finance a jail.

After months of debate that stretched legislative deadlines, California lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown finally agreed on a $7.5 billion water bond measure to put on the November ballot.