California

SAN FRANCISCO — The University of California this week will sell $500 million of 100-year bonds in an effort to attract pension fund and overseas investors.

SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland Unified School District lost its only remaining rating last week after Moody's Investors Service pulled its coverage of the district with more than $700 million of general obligation debt outstanding.

The Santa Clara City Council voted 5 to 1 Tuesday to approve a contract that would start construction on a $1 billion-plus stadium for the San Francisco 49ers football team in July, according to local press reports.

The California Department of Finance said Wednesday that state revenues in January came in $630 million below forecasts in the Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal.

Two of the largest public transit projects planned as part of Los Angeles’ effort to create a comprehensive rail system traversing Los Angeles County got the nod in President Obama’s budget.

A decision by the Los Angeles World Airports board of commissioners would appear to soften their stance on returning LA/Ontario International Airport to local control, though LAWA has posted a new website saying otherwise.

When it comes to the regional economies of Southern California, first in, first out applies to Orange County, as its economy began to recover in September 2010, according to a report released Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

SAN FRANCISCO – Standard & Poor’s has revised the outlook on its A-minus rating for California to positive from stable.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer announced Monday that the state will go to market with its first general obligation bond issue this year on March 1 with around $2 billion of refunding GOs.

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders talked about his approach to pension reform during a speech Monday at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., saying his reform plan could save the city up to $1.2 billion in costs over the next 30 years.

With tobacco consumption continuing to decline, Fitch Ratings last week downgraded $9 billion of tobacco bonds issued by Ohio and California after the two states were forced to draw on reserves to make their Dec. 1 payments.

SAN FRANCISCO – State officials have begun an early effort to find ways for California, Washington and Oregon to save money by cooperating on financing future infrastructure projects pegged in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

LOS ANGELES — Riverside County, Calif.'s financial advisor doesn't expect the county's recent one-notch downgrade from Moody's Investors Service to affect its ability to sell $35.5 million in lease revenue bonds Feb. 16.

San Diego officials are plowing ahead with plans to expand the city's convention center in a project that will require more than half a billion dollars of bonds.

The California Housing Finance Agency has revised a policy that resulted in it foreclosing on homeowners who were current on payments but had been renting out homes financed through the agency. The policy went into effect Monday.

The deficit for Los Angeles Unified School District has grown to $557 million and the district faces layoffs of up to 7,500 employees if it doesn’t receive money from three funding sources, officials said.

Ontario, Calif., officials now say that the $50 million payment they offered to Los Angeles for LA/Ontario International Airport was only part of a $250 million package the city offered to transfer title and operations of its airport, according to published reports.

California’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office Monday pointed out concerns it had with Gov. Jerry Brown’s backup budget plan should his tax referendum fail this November.

SAN FRANCISCO — California-based AGFS and Government Financial Strategies have merged their financial advisory practices in what they describe as a melding of shared industry values.

Standard & Poor's slashed Hercules, Calif.'s revenue bonds five notches, partly as a result of bankruptcy statements by city officials.