Far West

Nevada's state agencies surpassed a cap placed on budget requests by Gov. Brian Sandoval by $419 million, 6.5% higher than the governor's spending limits.

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie Wednesday appointed Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz to fill the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye earlier this month.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Denair Unified School District, Calif., to A from A-plus.

Moody's Investors Service affirmed Santa Barbara, Calif.'s Aa2 issuer rating, but downgraded to A1 from Aa3 the ratings for the city's 2002 certificates of participation and its 2009 airport revenue bonds.

The National Hockey League's lockout of its players, if not resolved, could impact ratings for the Staples Center arena in Los Angeles and the Pepsi Center in Denver, according to Fitch Ratings.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered five firms to pay $4.48 million for unfairly using bond proceeds to pay reimburse themselves for membership fees they paid to the California Public Securities Association, a lobbying group.

The federal government will reach its $16.4 trillion debt limit on Dec. 31 and will begin to suspend issuances of state and local government series securities and take other extraordinary measures to prevent defaulting on U.S. debt, the Treasury Secretary told leaders of Congress Tuesday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday issued an Investor Bulletin designed to help buyers of municipal bonds better understand bonds' credit risks.

Two Democrats from Michigan have introduced legislation that would allow a total of up to $1 billion of recovery zone economic development bonds to be issued over one year for projects in certain specified cities.

Political division in the leadership of the Securities and Exchange Commission could slow the agency's ability to advance a host of municipal market-related measures in 2013, say some market participants.