Far West

Dealers will have to submit bidding information and program documents for auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand obligations in nine months under an expansion of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s transparency system for short-term debt, approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission late last week.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — The Southern California Public Power Authority Tuesday priced $525.6 million of revenue bonds that will be used to secure power from a wind farm in Washington State.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — State treasurers voted Tuesday to urge Congress to extend the Build America Bond program at the current 35% subsidy rate, flouting those who warn lawmakers will only approve an extension at a reduced rate.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — One of the Obama administration’s priorities is to get Congress to extend the Build America Bond program and federal officials are convinced BABs will remain a “vibrant market” even if the federal subsidy rate is reduced from its current 35% level, a Treasury Department official said ­Monday.

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — A financial regulatory reform law provision that would require issuers of asset-backed securities to retain at least 5% of the debt they issue is so broad that some market participants are warning the retention requirements could apply to certain municipal bond transactions.

A California Senate committee Friday voted down a bill that would have banned local agencies from hiring bond underwriters that provided campaign services for the election authorizing the debt.

An overwhelming majority of Build America Bond subsidy payments have been paid in full to BAB issuers, suggesting that concerns about offsets are dramatically overblown, according to new data on state issuers compiled by the Internal Revenue Service and prepared remarks expected to be delivered this morning by a top Treasury Department official.

Some California cities may have their bond-issuing abilities limited by a bill introduced last week by lawmakers responding to the crisis in Bell, where freewheeling financial policies have resulted in the resignations of three city officials.

Honolulu Seawater Air Conditioning LLC is moving forward with public financing for a project that will suck cold water from ocean depths to cool Honolulu's downtown, providing energy savings from a renewable source.

As members of Congress and the White House struggle to find a suitable replacement for, or addition to, the current gas tax that provides funding for transportation infrastructure, at least one lawmaker is floating the idea of a sales tax on motor fuels.