Far West

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California lawmakers voted late Monday to remove an $11.4 billion general obligation bond measure from the November ballot, and delay it until 2012.

WASHINGTON — Four major municipal market groups are urging the Treasury Department to issue guidance confirming that the existing regulatory framework on issue price for tax-exempt bonds also applies to Build America Bonds and stating that if issuers follow certain long-standing practices, they can be confident they are complying with the rules in this area.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A year and a half after Seattle-area voters approved a sales tax hike to finance $18 billion in mass transit projects, a quarter of that amount has evaporated due to reduced economic activity.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California Treasurer Bill Lockyer has spent more money this year trying to elect his wife to a new job than he has spent on his own re-election campaign.

A federal judge in Birmingham last week denied motions filed by two former JPMorgan bankers to dismiss a Securities and Exchange Commission suit that alleges they committed securities fraud in connection with municipal bond and swap transactions with Jefferson County, Ala.

The American Bar Association’s taxation section has sent the Treasury Department several suggestions it contends would simplify and make more flexible interim guidance for issuers, bondholders, and other market participants that want to strip the tax credits from tax-credit bonds.

WASHINGTON — Despite recent headlines warning that deteriorating state and local finances will lead to bond defaults, a Treasury Department advisory committee has determined the municipal market “appears to be in reasonably good condition.”

WASHINGTON — The Senate yesterday voted 61 to 39 to approve a $26 billion measure that would extend but phase out increased federal Medicaid payments to states through June 30 and give $10 billion to local school districts to prevent layoffs.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Officials in Beverly Hills, Calif., were concerned about the city’s growing liability for the future health care costs of its current employees.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., has asked the Treasury Department for clarification of a tax law provision pertaining to qualified energy conservation bonds that she fears may be unintentionally preventing a solar-panel factory project in her district from taking full advantage of all the tax incentives available.