California

California completed a restructuring of its commercial paper program that resulted in a downgrade to one subseries of notes.

The California Society of Municipal Analysts awarded Jennifer Johnston, a vice president and research analyst with Franklin Templeton, with its inaugural Amy S. Doppelt Award for Meritorious Service.

Republicans complained about the skyrocketing cost and lack of administrative transparency surrounding the construction of the California high-speed rail project, while Democrats and regulators steadfastly defended the partially bond-financed project as an antidote to gridlock and a way to create jobs.

Nearly a year after an entirely new slate of City Council members were elected to replace corrupt officials, Bell, Calif., a Los Angeles-area working-class city of 50,000, is beginning to find its financial footing.

Los Angeles County supervisors are balking at a proposal from the county sheriff's department to issue $1.4 billion of bonds to rebuild the 5,000-bed Men's Central Jail in downtown Los Angeles.

Standard & Poor's said California's midyear budget cuts are a credit positive, but its efforts to improve its budget through those cuts could be undermined if the cuts are thwarted.

Moody’s Investors Service Tuesday withdrew its ratings on the Vallejo Unified School District’s general obligation bonds, certificates of obligation, and special tax bonds, citing insufficient information.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has solid early support for his initiative scheduled for the November ballot to temporarily raise sales taxes and taxes on the wealthy.

California Treasurer Bill Lockyer resigned from the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research pension advisory panel in protest over a study it released.

Officials in the troubled Los Angeles-area city of Vernon are contemplating a possible bond issuance, among other remedies, to pay for $60 million in grants for parks and recreational facilities that were agreed to during the legislative session in order to stave off the threat of disincorporation, according to published reports.

Bank downgrades and looming changes to bank collateral requirements under Basil III compelled San Diego-based Point Loma Nazarene University to sell its bonds directly to Bank of America rather than renewing a letter of credit due to expire this month.

Vernon, the Los Angeles-area city nearly disincorporated by the California Legislature in September, has received two divergent ratings on its $471 million of outstanding electric revenue bonds and a $73 million electric revenue bond issue planned for Wednesday.

Santa Clara, Calif., is considering using one of the largest public subsidies ever to help finance a $1.02 billion stadium for the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers.

The San Diego City Council supported a resolution Tuesday to take the next step in forming a special taxing district to pay for a $575 million plan that would expand the city’s convention center.

The Los Angeles City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee tabled action until Jan. 23 on a responsible banking ordinance until it can work out additional details.

Three California taxpayer associations have filed a ballot initiative to cap state spending.

The San Jose City Council Tuesday moved a step closer to a pension reform ballot measure.

The Inland Valley Development Agency in California disclosed that it and the San Bernardino International Airport Authority are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

California Gov. Jerry Brown unveiled a ballot initiative to temporarily raise the top income tax rate on individuals to as much as 12.3% - making it the highest in the country - as part of an effort to raise nearly $7 billion annually.

LOS ANGELES — An unexpected spike in California job creation numbers has the UCLA Anderson Forecast's economists speculating that the state may have turned a corner on its economic malaise.