Far West

Moody's Investor Services affirmed its Aa1 rating ahead of plans by the Montana Board of Housing to price $71.5 million in single family program bonds.

Moody's Investors Service plans to downgrade $68 million of Idaho Housing & Finance Association's bonds from AAA to Aa1 (sf) on April 9 to coincide with a remarketing of the variable rate bonds to the variable-rate remarketed obligation mode.

A new study projects that Puerto Rico could receive billions of additional federal dollars if it became a state, information that some observers said could inject new life into the statehood debate on the financially troubled island.

Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth completed distinct more municipal bond transactions in California than any other law firm in 2013 according to Thomson Reuters.

The credit quality of California's water and public power utilities is expected to remain strong over the next year, but could be pressured in the future, according to Fitch Ratings.

More Californians said they would support an $11 billion water bond this year, compared to last year, according to a recent survey.

California cities that collect a property tax for pensions say a snafu in the state's process of winding down redevelopment agencies is hurting the cities' ability to service pension obligation bonds and threatens deficits and layoffs.

For yet another year, uncertainty surrounding the potential loss or cap of the municipal tax exemption concerned panelists at the National Municipal Bond Summit.

A Treasury Department official told bond lawyers to view the municipal bond provisions in House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp's tax reform plan as a "scorecard of revenue offsets" that can be used in other tax proposals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's new program to encourage self-reporting of a specific continuing disclosure violation is facing some skepticism from bond lawyers even as one SEC attorney said it may eventually be expanded to cover other violations.