Far West

SAN FRANCISCO —The projected price tag for California's planned high-speed rail system between San Francisco and Los Angeles has been cut by a third.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles will be borrowing, but there won't be much new money for new projects in the near future.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of state departments of transportation have banded together to urge the House Republican leadership to avoid including any language in a transportation bill that would remove "important optional financing tools" for some public-private partnerships.

Treasurer Manju Ganeriwala has helped helm Virginia's finances through two governors and a global recession, and though the commonwealth has emerged in better shape than many states, she remains concerned about pension reform and what she feels are misguided efforts at muni market regulation by federal authorities.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey submitted a request to federal officials that its Bayonne Bridge "Raise the Roadway" project be considered for expedited review under President Obama's executive order on permitting and federal review.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service closed an audit without taking any enforcement action on $600 million of Build America Bonds issued by the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago that some market observers claimed had been mispriced.

WASHINGTON — Congress approved a 90-day extension of federal highway funding Thursday, capping a week filled with wild legislative twists and turns that led House Republican leaders to pull shorter-term bills from the floor three days in a row when it was clear they wouldn't be approved.

SAN FRANCISCO — California Treasurer Bill Lockyer is sending another legislative broadside at conduit issuers run by private companies.

Honolulu’s plans to build a 20-mile elevated rail system appear to be clearing funding hurdles despite staunch opposition from mayoral candidate and former governor Ben Cayetano.

Fitch Ratings on Wednesday affirmed the AAA/V1 fund credit and volatility ratings assigned to the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency’s investment portfolio.