Far West

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California lawmakers are rushing through hundreds of bills as they face a looming deadline to adjourn their 2010 session.

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department is considering whether it needs to issue guidance to address a potential ambiguity in the tax code that could bar issuers selling qualified energy conservation bonds from taking full advantage of available tax credits.

ALAMEDA, Calif. – Standard & Poor’s Thursday placed Bell, Calif.’s redevelopment agency bonds on negative CreditWatch, marking the latest setback for the small Southern California city in the wake of revelations of its unusual financial practices, which included paying its former city administrator almost $800,000 a year.

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board Wednesday said it’s considering whether its Rule G-37 on political contributions should require municipal securities dealers to disclose the names of political action committees controlled by bank holding companies or other affiliates.

WASHINGTON — The vast majority of early Build America Bond subsidy payments were processed in a timely and accurate manner during the first five months of the program, with no evidence of fraud or errors, according to a new report.

WASHINGTON — A northern Virginia county suing federal and state transportation authorities over certain environmental exemptions for planned high-occupancy toll lanes on two interstate highways has asked the court to add another federal official as a defendant.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A bill designed to make it harder for California local governments and agencies to file for bankruptcy cleared a key committee Tuesday afternoon.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — With no obvious progress in sight on California’s seriously overdue budget, state financial officials announced plans to defer ­almost $3 billion in payments to schools and county governments next month.

WASHINGTON — The Regional Bond Dealers Association is in the midst of a makeover as it expands from a scrappy startup of just 14 firms into a more established industry group that continues to focus exclusively on domestic fixed-income markets.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has told the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency that if it wants to settle a bond-related tax dispute, the settlement will have to cover all $700 million of its outstanding student loan debt.