Far West

In response to a spate of municipal bankruptcies and ongoing fiscal challenges at the local level, the California Treasurer's office has embarked on a project aimed at predicting cities' likelihood of defaulting on bonds.

California's state and local fiscal policies and the impact on credit ratings came under fire during a UCLA Anderson Forecast presentation Tuesday on the college campus.

Speaking in Washington before a Senate panel, Joseph Lhota, chairman of New York's MTA, urged federal help for his hurricane-battered transit system.

An agitated U.S. Secretary of Transportation reiterated the Obama administration's support for high-speed rail investment, and fought vigorously to defend the controversial and partly bond-funded $68 billion bullet train initiative in California.

The Reno, Nev., City Council will discuss at its Dec. 12 meeting a tentative plan to provide a $30 million subsidy spread over 30 years to help the owners of the Reno Aces, its local minor league baseball team, refinance their stadium development debt.

The California Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Costa Mesa, Calif. officials in a union lawsuit challenging the city's plan to outsource city jobs.

Voters approved a measure creating an assessment district in downtown Los Angeles to build a streetcar line at a cost of $125 million.

Two California lawmakers have proposed constitutional amendments to lower voter thresholds for local tax and bond measures.

California's finances are improving in the wake of two revenue-generating ballot propositions passed last month, and more fiscal reforms would be "viewed positively," according to Fitch Ratings.

For the first time in the group's history, the National Conference of State Legislators descended on Capitol Hill Wednesday and spent the day lobbying Congress on one single issue: an online sales tax bill.