Far West

SAN FRANCISCO — Stockton may not exactly be the next Vallejo, but similarities between the two California cities have started people talking.

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board plunged into the debate over municipal market disclosure Thursday, urging state and local governments to generate more timely financial reports.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has scheduled a second meeting with local officials in Virginia for Friday as he tries to break an impasse over the cost of the second phase of the Washington, D.C., Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

Moody’s Investors Service placed $6.7 billion of Aaa-rated municipal debt backed by the federal Bonneville Power Administration under review for possible downgrade Wednesday.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and legislative leadership announced a budget deal Wednesday.

Standard & Poor’s this week said California may have trouble accessing the municipal market for its revenue anticipation notes without a balanced budget.

Dale Bonner, the former California secretary of business, transportation, and housing, has started a new firm to focus on public-private partnerships.

WASHINGTON — State and local transportation decision-making fits no pattern and varies widely cross the country as governments try to cope with needs that overwhelm their available financing, according to a first-of-a-kind report released Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — Washington State lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced legislation to create $3 billion of qualified forest conservation bonds that could be used to help spur public-private partnership financing of sustainable ecosystems.

Issuers and independent financial advisers heralded the Securities and Exchange Commission’s endorsement of a proposed rule that would bar dealer-financial advisers from acting as an underwriter and a muni adviser on the same transaction.