Far West

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco is laying the foundation for a $600 million-plus rehab of 69 acres of waterfront that will need a big chunk of public financing.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The California attorney general’s office plans to seek a court order placing the troubled city of Bell under some sort of receivership or monitoring.

WASHINGTON — As the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board begins to regulate an anxious and skeptical non-dealer advisory community, its new chairman, Michael Bartolotta of Dallas-based First Southwest Co., the largest dealer-advisory firm in the nation, is stressing that the MSRB’s rules will be fair to all regulated market participants.

WASHINGTON — The top Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is opposing a recent Obama administration plan to invest in transportation, warning it is a year late and unacceptable because it would be paid for by ending tax loopholes for oil companies.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Wednesday that it has signed off on a Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposal to post ratings directly onto the board’s EMMA site.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The recently adopted California budget dumps a huge problem into the lap of the next governor and Legislature, according to the state’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California has picked a winning bidder for its plan to sell 11 office buildings and lease them back in a deal that will lead to the redemption or defeasance of more than $1 billion in outstanding lease-revenue debt.

WASHINGTON — Municipal market participants have many questions about new rules adopted by the Internal Revenue Service that require paid tax preparers to register with it, possibly take competency tests, and pay penalties for improper filings.

Transportation stakeholders are divided this week on a renewed push by President Obama for Congress to provide $50 billion of funding and the release of a report by the Treasury Department and Council of Economic Advisers that stresses the economic risk of not spending more on infrastructure.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has hired Karen Du Brul as an associate general counsel to work on the rulemaking and policy team as it begins to write rules for muni advisers.