Far West

Voters in Vallejo, which recently exited bankruptcy, appeared set to defeat a 1% sales tax hike measure after Tuesday's election.

Moody's Investors Service Tuesday downgraded Stockton's issuer rating to Baa1 from A3 as the city's fragile budget continues to face challenges.

The San Diego city clerk has certified a pension reform measure for the city's June 2012 election.

A crowded bond calendar and the size of Hawaii's $1.27 billion general obligation bond sale next week mean the deal will likely have to be priced nationally to clear the market, according to one market watcher.

A Senate committee Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a bipartisan, $109 billion, two-year surface transportation bill that maintains current funding levels for highways and provides another $2 billion for a program that provides federal credit assistance for projects.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed a revised definition of "sophisticated municipal market professional" Tuesday that, for the first time, would include individuals with total assets of at least $50 million.

WASHINGTON - Wachovia Bank NA, now Wells Fargo & Co., has reached a tentative settlement of a consolidated class- action suit with municipal issuers over antitrust charges of bid-rigging for municipal investment, derivatives and other contracts.

SAN FRANCISCO - The San Diego Unified School District's board, after warning in October that the district could face insolvency and after being downgraded last week, is now talking about placing a $1.5 billion to $2 billion bond issue on the ballot in November 2012.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission will issue a proposal to revamp the money-market fund industry "in very short order," chairman Mary Schapiro said Monday.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service is auditing the tax-exempt bonds in a number of conduit deals where the borrowers entered into total return swaps and is questioning whether the bonds may be taxable because of arbitrage rule violations, market participants said Monday.