Far West

LOS ANGELES — The Honolulu Board of Water Supply priced $85.2 million of bonds Wednesday, achieving an expected net savings of $7.15 million over the life of the bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Senate voted 74 to 22 on Wednesday to approve a two-year, $109 billion highway reauthorization bill that would increase the limit for bank-qualified bonds to $30 million from $10 million.

Fourteen municipal market groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to refrain from requiring money market funds' net-asset values to float, warning such a change would hurt state and local governments and money market funds.

LOS ANGELES — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval on Tuesday proposed extending into the next budget a package of taxes now set to expire in June 2012, to avoid further cuts to education.

An end may be in sight for the two-year old bankruptcy of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., albeit at a steep price for bondholders.

WASHINGTON — The Senate narrowly approved a proposal to prohibit the use of private-activity bond financing on certain toll roads as they inched toward final passage of a two-year, $109 billion highway reauthorization bill Tuesday.

The MSRB proposed a rule change that would limit dealers from using the term "NRO," or "not reoffered," in written communications about new muni securities, a move aimed at ensuring market participants will have accurate and timely price and yield information.

The liberal think tank the Center for American Progress has proposed a plan to promote a new source of financing for troubled state housing finance agencies — the House America Bond.

Hercules, Calif., said it has tentatively settled a $4 million lawsuit brought by Ambac Assurance Corp. over a default by the city's redevelopment agency.

LOS ANGELES — La Mirada, a city of 50,000 southeast of downtown Los Angeles, on Friday received a downgrade from Moody's Investors Service to A1 from Aa3 on $13.6 million of outstanding lease revenue bonds after officials declared a fiscal emergency.