Far West

WASHINGTON — Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett warned a panel investigating the causes of the financial crisis Wednesday that states and localities may face “terrible” financial distress in the next five to 10 years that in turn could lead some to look to the federal government for bailouts.

WASHINGTON — A consulting firm has warned the Treasury Department that interim guidance it released in March might force small school districts to obtain Cusip numbers for their tax-credit bonds even if the issuer has no intention of ever stripping the tax credit from the bonds and selling it separately.

WASHINGTON — Municipal issuers and their bond lawyers last week were scheduling meetings to discuss whether the Internal Revenue Service’s compliance push on Build America Bonds will deter them from issuing the bonds in the future or force them to change the offering documents to protect themselves in case the IRS audits the bonds.

The Internal Revenue Service closed an audit of $61.3 million of revenue bonds issued in 2005 by the Coastal Bend Health Facilities Development Corp. of Corpus Christi, Tex., and has determined the debt can remain tax-exempt.

The Senate is expected to vote next week on a resolution by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to disapprove of greenhouse-gas regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Clean Air Act.

Arbitration panels for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have ordered Citigroup to pay roughly $2.2 million to investors who lost money in one of the bank’s municipal bond arbitrage vehicles.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A California Senate committee has approved a watered-down version of a bill designed to make it harder for cities or other local agencies to file for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy.

WASHINGTON — The House on Friday voted 215 to 204 to approve legislation that would extend the Build America Bond program for two years, while gradually reducing the subsidy payments the federal government makes to BAB issuers.

WASHINGTON — The House was poised late Thursday to consider an amendment to the tax-extenders package that would slightly alter the distribution of nearly $1 billion to states for transportation projects.

LOS ANGELES — The first public-private partnership project under a program championed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently cleared a major procedural hurdle, though questions remain over whether the Presidio Parkway project is the right way to use P3s.