Far West

California Controller John Chiang said in report that the state ended the fiscal year with a $1.4 billion shortfall that was $1 billion less than expected.

Fitch Ratings downgraded San Francisco Community College District three notches due to concerns about its accreditation.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa., has put a hold on two Treasury nominees.

San Bernardino's surprise decision to file for bankruptcy, becoming the third California city to do so in less than a month, has shaken the municipal market and set up a likely showdown with bondholders.

Big bond commitments will be a major piece of the funding puzzle when it comes to constructing a national high-speed rail system, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood affirmed Wednesday.

A bipartisan group of senators will introduce an amendment to the small-business tax credit bill this week that would require online retailers to collect sales taxes from out-of-state customers.

In the aftermath of financial guarantees by Scranton, Penn. and Stockton, Calif. recently contributing to the cities' defaults, the Government Accounting Standards Board is seeking to improve the visibility of these guarantees.

The IRS is auditing $245.7 million of hospital revenue bonds issued by The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama in Birmingham in September 2006.

The Senate Banking Committee is looking into the allegations that banks manipulated Libor, the London Interbank Offered Rate that is used by financial institutions to set interest rates for financial products, including interest rate swaps entered into by municipal bond issuers.

California's general obligation bond sales are set to swell to $6 billion this fiscal year due in part to the sale of high-speed rail bonds.