Far West

SAN FRANCISCO — Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire asked lawmakers Tuesday to put a temporary sales-tax increase measure before voters and pass $3.6 billion of transportation spending.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission voted 4 to 1 to approve a final rule on business conduct standards for swap dealers designed to protect states and local governments, as well as taxpayers, from fraud in the swaps marketplace.

With the Jan. 31 expiration date of the latest Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization law coming up fast, hopes for a long-awaited multi-year bill are giving way to pessimism as airport lobbyists fear that deep partisan divides and a limited number of congressional work days may wind up producing another short-term measure or FAA shutdown.

SAN FRANCISCO — An eastern Washington public facilities district that defaulted on $42 million of notes last month is scrambling for ways to pay investors.

The Internal Revenue Service's initiative to determine whether municipal bonds are being initially offered at prices that fail to comply with tax requirements has left issuers upset and confused about the definition of issue price and what specific abuses the IRS is looking for.

Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board officials on Tuesday urged issuers to encourage Moody's Investors Service to post rating information on the MSRB's online Electronic Municipal Market Access system.

WASHINGTON — Public-private partnerships do not necessarily supply more funds for highway construction than traditional government financing, and spending by the private party must be restricted by budget caps or legal limits for states and localities to see benefits from P3s, a Congressional Budget Office study concluded Monday.

LOS ANGELES — The superintendent of Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego County has suspended all activity by Seville Group Inc., the program and construction management firm overseeing the district's $644 million Proposition O bond program.

Putting an end to the one of the most high-profile criminal trials in the muni market since the mid-1990s, two former employees of CDR Financial Products Inc. each pleaded guilty to three criminal counts in connection with bid-rigging of investment and derivatives contracts for muni bond proceeds.

Standard & Poor's has raised Alaska's general obligation debt rating to AAA from AA-plus because of a change in the state's financial management methods.