California

The municipal bond market's initial negative reaction to this month's Southern California wildfires has eased, with secondary spreads starting to tighten.

Broker-dealer Siebert Williams Shank's foundation donated $100,000 to two organizations aiding Los Angeles-area residents affected by the wildfires.

The Los Angeles-area wildfires have sparked a negative rating watch for several credits from Fitch Ratings.

Fieldman, Rolapp & Co. has acquired Orem, Utah-based municipal advisor G.L. Hicks, a healthcare finance specialist.

With losses expected to be measured in the tens or hundreds of billions, the municipal finance industry begins to take stock of the Los Angeles-area wildfires.

It could be the year's largest unrated municipal bond deal.

The insurance market going into the Jan. 7 catastrophe already had been hit with non-renewals and cancellations -- and an overburdened state-supported insurance plan. A Morningstar analyst said the state insurance commissioner's reform strategy could have turned it around but now faces new obstacles.

Because of the disaster, income tax filing deadlines for Los Angeles County residents will be delayed to October, muddying the revenue picture for the state.

Trading in Los Angeles credits has become more volatile. An L.A. Department of Water and Power deal slated for Wednesday went day-to-day.

Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed $322.2 billion budget includes a $228.9 billion general fund, $16.9 billion in reserves and no plans to raise taxes.

Wiles retired from Los Angeles County at year-end but will still influence the industry as a member of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Early totals on Los Angeles' trio of raging fires appear to vastly surpass devastating blazes experienced by the city over the past decade.

Redevelopment 3.0 should focus on providing a permanent, reliable source of equity with which to build a sustainable pipeline of affordable housing projects.

California's revenue windfall good budget fortune could go sideways if President-elect Donald Trump torpedoes social programs, Gavin Newsom said Monday.

California and federal officials  reached a $10 million settlement with the owners of a chain of non-profit health clinics and a laboratory in a case involving Medi-Cal and Medicare fraud.

Enviva's bankruptcy is the latest Chapter 11 bankruptcy where green private activity bonds are restructured to near zero.

The muni market saw $507.585 billion of debt issued in 2024, up 31.8% from $385.061 in 2023. This surpasses the previous record of $484.601 billion in 2020 by more than $20 billion, per LSEG data.

San Francisco's "tepid" recovery from the pandemic was cited by Fitch.

A decline in debt service coverage drove S&P's four-notch downgrade for Salinas, California, sewer revenue debt, which it placed on CreditWatch negative.

Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association has until the end of January to file briefs in its case challenging San Jose's pension obligation bond validation.