Far West

Standard & Poor's has upgraded the rating on general obligation bonds issued by the Pittsburg Unified School Districted, located east of San Francisco in Contra Costa County.

The National Association of Water Companies wants the Treasury Department to clarify tax rules so that state and local governments can ensure the tax-exempt bonds they used to finance their water and wastewater facilities will not become taxable if they enter into public-private partnerships.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposal to simplify its rules on professional designations by limiting the activities of some dealer representatives and eliminating one of its professional designations.

Short-term patch of the Highway Trust Fund is credit positive for $12 billion of state highway Garvee bonds, Moody's says. But neither it nor other major rating agencies are planning to change Garvee ratings or outlooks.

A slew of bond-related bills was introduced in the House and Senate in the last few days before members of Congress left town to begin their five-week recess.

A water main break that resulted in the release of an estimated 20 million gallons of water, flooding Westside Los Angeles neighborhoods and the University of California-Los Angeles campus, is reflective of problems cities across the country face as they grapple with aging infrastructures.

The Washington State Housing Finance Commission, which helps fund affordable housing in the state by issuing tax-exempt bonds and offering tax credits, announced that it will help victims of recent wildfires to access emergency housing.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's changes to its disclosure violation self-reporting program are somewhat helpful to issuers but may create further problems in their relationships with underwriters, market participants said.

California's new law that requires municipal issuers to disclose to the California Debt Investment and Advisory Commission their private placements and direct loans from banks is beneficial to investors and analysts, according to Moody's Investors Service.

The California 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the state may resume selling $10 billion in bonds for its $68 billion high speed rail project.