California

This week’s Los Angeles Department of Water and Power water revenue bond sale will benefit from an upgraded bond rating and a rate increase.

San Bernardino’s bankruptcy settlement agreement with pension bondholders is a credit negative, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Los Angeles emphasized the tech industry’s growing importance as an economic driver at its third regional investor’s conference.

Legal and political processes must lead to pension fixes in Chicago, California, and around the country, said leaders of an advocacy group dedicated to public sector pension reform.

The San Diego Chargers have proposed a financing plan for a $1.8 billion joint use stadium-convention center in downtown San Diego that includes the issuance of $1.15 billion of tax-exempt bonds backed by a hike in the city’s hotel tax.

San Bernardino, Calif., reached a settlement agreement that gives bondholders a major haircut that is still substantially better for them than the city originally proposed in its Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority could ask voters to approve an additional half cent sales tax in addition to extending one passed in 2008 to fund $120 billion of transportation projects.

Fitch Ratings’ recent guidance on school bond ratings won’t bring across-the-board higher ratings to California school bonds; the agency will require a legal opinion to consider such GO bonds to be special revenues in a bankruptcy case.

Junk-rated California hospital chain Verity Health received an outlook boost Wednesday, when Standard & Poor’s boosted its outlook to stable from negative while affirming its CCC rating.

The West Contra Costa Unified School District’s settlement of a lawsuit over parcel tax revenues is a potential credit hit for parcel tax levying school districts in California and a boost for charter school credits, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Fitch Ratings says that California school general obligation bonds meet its “high bar” to determine if the revenue backing bonds would be considered special revenues in a bankruptcy, and therefore more secure.

A Los Angeles utility rate increase aimed at reducing the city’s dependence on coal was deemed a credit positive by Moody’s Investors Service.

Californians are gearing up for election season in what may prove to be “the year of the initiative,” with two explicitly bond-related questions already qualified for the November ballot and several more of interest to public finance likely to follow.

An employee group at KNN Public Finance has bought back the California municipal advisory firm from its parent company, Zions Bank, citing the regulatory environment and its emphasis on duty of care to clients.

Increasing disclosure requirements for bond issuers is high on California Treasurer John Chiang’s list of priorities for the state legislature.

Westlands Water District, Calif. is on Fitch Ratings' rating watch negative after it was fined by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading investors.

California priced an additional $500 million in refunding bonds during this week’s GO bond sale at yields that resulted in $294 million in net present value savings.

After dipping in January, California state government’s revenues returned in February to a pattern of beating budget projections.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday charged California's largest agricultural water district and two officials with misleading investors about its financial condition when it issued $77 million of bonds in 2012.

Los Angeles World Airports needs to reform its bidding process to move forward on its multi-billion dollar efforts to modernize Los Angeles International Airport, according to a city controller's audit.