Far West

WASHINGTON — The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board yesterday announced two enhancements to the muni securities trading data available on its Electronic Municipal Market Access site.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education agreed Tuesday to send out 5,200 layoff notices in the face of a $640 million budget deficit projected for the next fiscal year.

State and local governments could face 50 years of fiscal troubles — through 2060 — if current policy stays the same, the congressional Government Accountability Office said in a report published this week.

WASHINGTON — Multiple factors such as the lack of a White House proposal and a public push-back against gas-tax hikes or new mileage fees are working against the passage of a new multiyear transportation bill, market participants warned yesterday at a conference here sponsored by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Internal Revenue Service announced yesterday they have agreed to work together more closely to monitor and regulate municipal bonds — another signal that federal regulators have elevated the priority of the muni market.

States’ financial troubles do not pose a systemic risk to the municipal bond market and total issuance should be about the same in 2010 as last year, according to economists surveyed by the Regional Bond Dealers Association for its first semiannual economic forecast. However, they warned that states’ steep spending cuts pose a significant negative threat to the national economy.

WASHINGTON — States could lose $768 million of highway funds this week and be forced to delay or cancel projects due to the failure of Congress to approve a short-term extension of federal aid to states, state officials and transportation advocates said Monday.

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court justices yesterday signaled they have concerns about the “honest-services fraud” statute used to convict former Enron Corp. chief executive officer Jeffrey Skilling, but were unclear if they would grant his request that they declare it unconstitutionally broad and vague.

Two groups of tax attorneys last week urged the Treasury Department to modify its proposed regulations on bond-financed solid-waste disposal facilities to make sure they would cover all legitimate waste facilities.

SAN FRANCISCO — After a sometime acrimonious six-day special session, Nevada lawmakers adjourned in the wee hours of Monday after passing legislation to bring the budget back into balance.