California

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.

Anna Sarabian was promoted to partner at financial advisors Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates.

Investors say California’s general obligation bonds will receive a warm welcome when the state prices $2.3 billion into a busy primary market.

Los Angeles revenues for fiscal 2015-16 are coming in $170 million less than projected.

The Los Angeles Unified School District brings the largest deal of the muni primary market's busiest week in almost a year with the help of two freshly minted, high-level ratings.

Sacramento, Calif.’s creation of a long-term plan to fund its retiree healthcare benefits has put the city on a more sustainable trajectory, Moody's Investors Service said Friday.

A 2.2 cents per gallon cut in California’s gasoline tax will reduce funding for road and transit projects.

Far West issuers sold $83.6 billion of municipal bonds in 2015, a 26.5% increase over the prior year, as refundings continued to drive volume.

Financial information of state and local government debt issuers is of great interest to state residents and taxpayers, not only for how tax dollars and other revenues are used, but how well they are used. The more transparent, the greater confidence citizens may have in their government. The bar for such transparency has just been raised by DebtWatch.

California high-speed rail officials said they plan to start the $64.2 billion project in the north, rather than in the south.

Squire Patton Boggs, a leading muni bond firm, is merging with the San Francisco-based international litigation firm of Carroll, Burdick & McDonough.