Far West

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.

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.