Far West

A Los Angeles County joint powers authority will refund up to $200 million in redevelopment agency tax allocation revenue bonds as conduit issuer for seven successor agencies.

A coalition of local leaders is asking Congress to generate an additional $30 billion a year for transportation efforts by almost doubling the federal gasoline tax.

California's budgetary condition is stronger now than it has been in the past decade, according to a report released by the Legislative Analyst's office on Wednesday.

Stockton is poised to exit Chapter 9 bankruptcy in March 2014, but not without a fight with its last major creditor, Franklin Advisers, over $35 million of the city's lease revenue bonds.

Standard & Poor's upgraded the rating on California's economic recovery bonds to AA from A-plus, with a stable outlook.

The Desert Hot Springs, Calif., City Council voted unanimously to declare a fiscal emergency, the first step in the state's process leading to filing for municipal bankruptcy, according to news reports.

A federal interagency task force, created to advise the Puerto Rican government on fiscal and economic matters, will meet with Puerto Rican officials next month, but will not provide any additional financial assistance, knowledgeable sources said.

Puerto Rico's pension funded ratio of 8.4% for 2012 was far worse than any of the 50 states, Morningstar, Inc., said in pension reports for 23 individual states and the territory it released on Wednesday.

Republican Kevin Faulconer and Democrat David Alvarez will face-off in a run-off election on Feb. 11 to replace San Diego Mayor Bob Filner who was forced from office following a sexual harassment scandal.

Fitch Ratings on Monday lowered the ratings to junk on slightly more than $100 million of San Ysidro, Calif., school district debt deeming it likely that the state could take over the school district.