Far West

Proposals to limit the tax-exemption on municipal bonds get short shrift from the majority of market participants, but some state and local government experts on Tuesday seemed resigned to the notion that tax-reform efforts will inevitably do just that.

SAN FRANCISCO - Lower-than-expected revenues could trigger budget cuts in California this year, with one rating agency saying that the revenue outlook is a credit negative.

San Francisco-based Catholic Healthcare West, which operates 40 hospitals throughout California, Nevada and Arizona, is planning a $645 million new-money and refunding deal next week.

WASHINGTON - The Treasury Department's Federal Insurance office is seeking input from the industry and public for a report it must write and submit to Congress early next year on how to modernize and improve the regulatory system for insurance companies, including monoline bond insurers.

RBC Capital Markets LLC was fined $95,000 and ordered to pay almost $33,000 in restitution to investors for unfair pricing of municipal bonds, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority reported Monday.

WASHINGTON - Two congressmen joined issuers in urging the Governmental Accounting Standards Board to retool or withdraw a proposal that would change how cash-strapped states and localities report pension liabilities, saying the new standards would prove destructive in the current economy.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Monday that it will extend the terms of nine board members beyond Sept. 30, 2012, to ensure it has three classes of seven members with staggered terms.

WASHINGTON - House Financial Services Committee Republicans are urging the joint supercommittee to significantly scale back the Dodd-Frank Act and its derivatives provisions, as well as reduce the size of the community development block grant program.

California's economy still has some cracks, but its strengths — including its diversity of industries — are starting to overshadow weaknesses such as the high cost of doing business in the state, according to speakers at the Milken Institute State of the State Conference 2011.

SAN ANTONIO - State and local governments must rally to defend the federal tax exemption for munis, a market expert warned Thursday, saying only they can persuade members of Congress about its importance.