Far West

Abstract: Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., ranking minority member on the House Budget Committee, is worried there will be a replay of the 2011 debt limit debacle this year, which compromised the credit rating of the U.S. for the first time in history and halted sales of state and local government series securities for municipal bond issuers.

The impact of advances in information technology and the proliferation of open networks are mostly positive for financial markets, said speakers at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a lawsuit against Victorville, Calif., a city official, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority, and underwriter Kinsell, Newcomb & DeDios, charging them with defrauding investors by inflating valuations of property in connection with a 2008 bond offering.

A small health care district in Northern California, the Mendocino Coast Health Care District, is still slogging its way through Chapter 9 bankruptcy and hopes to exit this summer without impairing bondholders.

Former California State Senator Sheila Kuehl announced plans to run for long-time Los Angeles County supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky's position in a further changing to the guard in Los Angeles politics.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced late Thursday that an agreement has been reached on the Marketplace Fairness Act and a final vote will be scheduled for the week of May 6.

For the first time ever, state and local governments' contribution to national gross domestic product is still negative three years after a recession has passed its low point, the Tax Policy Center found in a new report.

Los Angeles mayoral candidates Eric Garcetti and Wendy Greuel are pulling out the stops to prove they are the right candidate to help the city craft a long-term solution to budgetary problems in a May 21 election.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has updated its guidance for individual municipal bond investors by urging them to ask brokers questions about issuer disclosures and bond insurer ratings.

Stockton, Calif., the biggest U.S. city to file for bankruptcy, will restart negotiations with creditors while it develops a plan to adjust its debts and exit court protection.