Far West

SAN FRANCISCO — Moody's Investors Service downgraded $3.2 billion of Los Angeles bonds yesterday, as elected officials in the nation's second-biggest city battled over a plan to raise electricity rates.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 27 transportation, labor, and other groups are urging lawmakers drafting climate and energy legislation that could impose a carbon tax on gasoline to ensure any resulting tax revenue would be funneled into the highway trust fund instead of other programs.

WASHINGTON — The mayor of Tucson has urged the Treasury Department to revise its criteria for determining what areas can use recovery zone bond financing, complaining that the current allocation method overlooks his city even though it has one of the highest unemployment rates in Arizona.

The Retama Development Corp. has agreed to pay the Internal Revenue Service an unspecified amount and convert $30.425 million of tax-exempt bonds into taxable debt to ensure $160.3 million of bonds it issued in 1993 and 1997 will remain tax-exempt.

The California State Assembly's public retirement and investment subcommittee heard testimony today regarding Assemblyman Ed Hernandez's (D-West Covina) controversial bill proposing limitations on contingency fees for placement agents.

SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles Controller Wendy Greuel said the nation’s second-biggest city will run out of money within a month without action from elected officials, who are stuck in a acrimonious standoff over electricity rates.

Americans, even in rural areas, overwhelmingly favor expanding public transportation such as rail or bus transit rather than highway construction, which traditionally has received much more funding, according to a recent national poll.

WASHINGTON — State and local governments will save $12.3 billion on the $90 billion of Build America Bonds issued so far compared with traditional tax-exempt debt, the Treasury Department said in a recent report touting the success of the program.

SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain, the commuter rail line that connects San Francisco to San Jose, is facing a fiscal crisis that could force it to cut half its service next year.

WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia’s convention center hotel project, which has been delayed for years, may finally be getting closer to financing, with a possible $250 million bond sale later this spring following a favorable court ruling last week, district officials said.