California

"The shortage of accountants is not a brand new-issue, but it seems to be more thematic this year," said Richard Ciccarone, president emeritus of Merritt Research Services.

Moody's Ratings analysts revised the outlook to stable from negative on the expectation that states and locals will fill an $8 billion operations funding gap.

Co-authors of a bill to authorize a tax measure seen as crucial to Bay Area transit killed it amid opposition from multiple quarters.

May volume "surprised on the high end and it has been one of the fastest starts to the year historically," said James Pruskowski, chief investment officer at 16Rock Asset Management.

Democratic leaders in the Assembly and Senate said they restored some of Gavin Newsom's proposed deficit-reducing cuts in their budget proposal.

Fifteen years after a $9.9 billion bond issue that was to finance a substantial portion of a new high-speed rail line across California, the proposal "has become one of the most troubled megaprojects in the nation," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo.

California senators approved a tax measure to raise $1.5 billion after the bill's author promised further tweaks to occur on the Assembly side.

The majority of the debt sold for the state's community choice aggregators came through CCCFA, a conduit issuer that ranked third among all issuers nationwide for volume issued in 2023.

Municipal analysts have been tracking the challenges faced by home insurers in California and other states plagued with extreme weather events as a harbinger of credit risk.

John Sheldon will fill the deputy treasurer position left vacant when Juan Fernandez retired.

High speed passenger rail line leveraging $3 billion in DOT grants

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's May budget revisions brought 260 program cuts, but he will not raise taxes or layoff or furlough employees to close the deficit. His plan would cut 10,000 vacant positions.

More funding went to oil and gas subsidies than into green energy projects in recent years, according to panelists at Milken Institute's Global Conference.

California lawmakers asked the high court to intervene on the measure headed for November's ballot.

April's volume stood at $40.456 billion in 653 issues, up 21.2% from $33.377 billion in 666 issues in 2023.

CDIAC's revamped website, which launches May 1, will offer accessibility to state and local debt from issuance through maturity and the ability to create summary reports based on search features.

S&P Global Ratings joined Moody's in assigning a negative outlook to its triple-A rating, but a criteria change pushed Fitch's rating of the city up to AAA.

The California Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the state's 2013 pension changes, after seemingly settling the issue with a 2020 ruling.

The company expects construction to take four years, with operations beginning in summer of 2028 ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics.

Los Angeles Mayor Bass' proposed $12.8 billion spending plan aims to close a $467 million deficit.