Far West

WASHINGTON - The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Thursday warned that the variable-rate demand obligation market "may be under pressure" over the next year and a half as bank credit facilities expire.

The chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said Thursday that she wants the panel to approve a bipartisan, two-year $109 billion transportation reauthorization bill before Congress leaves for its August recess.

WASHINGTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission is probing a number of governmental entities about the adequacy of their public pension disclosures, chairwoman Mary Schapiro told lawmakers Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO - The majority of California redevelopment agencies will likely survive new laws aimed at shrinking or eliminating them, but some worry about outstanding bonds issued by the agencies and what market access they will have in the future.

Washington Treasurer James McIntire said the state successfully pulled off its first retail-bond negotiated offering in more than 14 years, booking orders for more than $89 million worth of the debt.

Online retailer Amazon.com has filed papers to try to get a referendum in the June 2012 California election in an effort to overturn a new online tax-collection law.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System on Monday reported a 20.7% return on investments in early estimates for the fiscal year ending in June.

A California appellate court will hear a public employee union’s appeal next month after a court denied a lawsuit over the Presidio Parkway public-private partnership.

The San Diego City Council agreed Monday to pay $70 million in redevelopment funds to the state as part of new budget legislation, according to the local press.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s water revenue bonds Monday to Aa3 from Aa2.