Far West

SAN FRANCISCO — Count Washington Treasurer James McIntire as satisfied with his inaugural venture into Build America Bonds, as well as the state’s first negotiated bond sale since 1997.

The National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies sent an “urgent appeal” to the Obama administration last week asking it to quickly announce a long-expected $35 billion bond purchase and liquidity program, warning that a rapidly approaching deadline could drastically limit the program’s effectiveness if it is not unveiled soon.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board announced Thursday that it has promoted two of its in-house attorneys.

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is making a push to expand its presence in the nation’s health care sector by ramping up its long-standing FHA mortgage insurance program for hospitals.

The Federal Railroad Administration last week released an early draft of a national rail plan that includes alternative-financing strategies that could involve bonds.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Morgan Stanley $90,000 for buying and selling corporate and municipal bonds at unfair and unreasonable prices.

SAN FRANCISCO — A bond deal expected to approach $2 billion is heading for the November calendar, after a California Senate vote this week.

WASHINGTON — State tax collections suffered from a record-setting decline in the second quarter of 2009, with almost all states reporting a drop in total tax revenue during the quarter, the Rockefeller Institute of Government said in a report issued yesterday.

WASHINGTON — Though legislation that cleared the House Financial Services Committee yesterday would allow any municipality to participate in a derivative transaction as long as its counterparty is regulated, a high-level Treasury Department official said municipalities are still protected because those regulated parties will have to meet comprehensive business-conduct standards.

WASHINGTON — Rail advocates are urging the federal government to partner with states to develop a national high-speed rail network. The partnership should be modeled after the Interstate highway system, and Washington should share the costs of projects and create a dedicated funding source similar to the federal highway trust fund, they told members of the House Transportation rail subcommittee Wednesday afternoon.