Far West

The Far West Region mirrored the U.S. with municipal bond sales dropping 24.8% during the first half of 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier.

Changes to California's school pension contribution laws will create budgetary challenges for the state's school districts after 2017, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Congress delayed, but did not fix, a $100 billion hole in federal transportation spending with the enactment last Friday of legislation providing $10.8 billion to extend solvency of the rapidly shrinking Highway Trust Fund by 10 months.

The fate of a California state school facilities bond measure proposal, originally priced at $9 billion, could be decided during a Senate Appropriation Committee hearing on Thursday.

The 114-mile stretch of California's high speed rail project from Fresno to Bakersfield received approval from a federal railway oversight board on Tuesday.

A strike or work slowdown at U.S. West Coast ports could result in the loss of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy if goods are diverted to non-U.S. ports, a Fitch Ratings report said.

California lawmakers are considering a $7.2 billion water bond for the November ballot as the discussion goes into overtime.

Marijuana legalization has failed to live up to the hype in terms of its impact on state economies, according to the three major rating agencies.

Many municipal market professionals are concerned that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board's proposed best execution rule would not be functionally different from the fair pricing obligations that the MSRB and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority already impose on dealers.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Tuesday that it will rebate $3.6 million to broker-dealers because it has collected more money in technology fees than the board needs to maintain its systems.