Far West

President Obama Wednesday, eager to prevent another political showdown over expiring legislation, called on Congress to quickly renew the surface transportation law that expires at the end of September.

WASHINGTON - Broker-dealer groups blasted a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to collect an annual $300-per-person fee from municipal advisors, saying the assessment would penalize dealers and dealer FAs who already bear the brunt of funding the board's operations.

LOS ANGELES - Vernon, a corruption-plagued city in greater Los Angeles, received a second chance to clean up its act when the California Legislature rejected measures that would have disincorporated the city.

House Republicans, eager to jump-start job-creation efforts after the debt-ceiling battle, are eyeing a top reform priority among state and local government groups as part of their plans.

The company looking to develop a National Football League stadium in Los Angeles saw two challenges crop up late last week.

WASHINGTON - With a nod to recent guidance from the tax-exempt community's accounting rulemaker, a bond attorneys' group has pulled contentious public pension-disclosure language from its most recent proposal, according to a draft of the group's pension-disclosure guidance circulated earlier this month.

The Obama administration is bringing back to Washington a key advocate for the Build America Bond program to help strategize the president's job-creation initiatives.

SAN FRANCISCO — California Controller John Chiang has ordered an investigation of the troubled city of Hercules after uncovering what he calls major discrepancies in its financial reports.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said Thursday he will introduce legislation when Congress reconvenes to establish a Social Security tax for high-earning workers, hoping to buffer the entitlement program from benefits cuts.

WASHINGTON — Five states — California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania — accounted for 40% of the continuing disclosures filed with the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board since July 2009, according to a report released Thursday.