Far West

WASHINGTON — As the full Senate began to debate financial regulatory reform legislation Thursday, dealers pushed back against several provisions they said could shut down the swaps market for states and localities.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Hawaii lawmakers closed out their session this week, but not before taking a series of controversial actions to balance a $10.2 billion budget that has been hammered by the recession.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation this week issued guidance on how state and local governments should apply for $600 million for projects under a competitive discretionary grant program.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The tight supply situation in the primary tax-exempt bond market will get a $2 billion boost from one issuer next week when the California Department of Water Resources prices power supply revenue bonds.

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has raised the possibility of including a provision to extend the Build America Bonds program in an “extenders” package, which lawmakers hope to approve by Memorial Day weekend.

WASHINGTON — In a surprise bipartisan development, Senate lawmakers announced Wednesday evening that they would begin to debate financial regulatory reform legislation on the Senate floor by unanimous consent, a method that allows the bill to proceed without a cloture vote to limit debate on the measure.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Manhattan has ruled that a group of 11 California localities, including Los Angeles, may go forward with their civil cases against Goldman, Sachs & Co., Citigroup, and several other high-profile firms because they may have participated in an alleged conspiracy to rig bids for municipal investment contracts and derivatives.

WASHINGTON — At a meeting today and tomorrow in Philadelphia, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to discuss proposed rule changes that would dictate the priority of retail and other customer orders in primary offerings, as well as where the board stands on its push to provide rating changes over its EMMA site.

Smaller airports, transfer hubs, and airports with a large proportion of business from only one or two airlines will be most vulnerable if the remaining U.S. legacy airlines continue to consolidate, Fitch Ratings said in a report issued yesterday.

After telling state and local officials that there was nothing they could do to adjust a much-maligned formula used to allocate $25 billion of recovery zone bonds, Treasury Department officials are now referring the governments to legislation pending in the Senate that would allocate another $25 billion of the bonds using new criteria.