California

With the stroke of a pen, California Gov. Jerry Brown could avoid one of the largest municipal bond defaults of 2011. If not, the San Jose Redevelopment Agency could default on nearly $100 million of variable-rate debt this November.

LOS ANGELES - The proposed National Football League stadium in downtown Los Angeles took a leap forward Tuesday when California Gov. Jerry Brown signed two bills to streamline environmental review for key construction projects.

The Los Angeles Unified School District board voted last week to join opponents of local redevelopment agencies in the legal battle over who should control redevelopment funds, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Fitch Ratings recently downgraded several Riverside County bonds and certificates.

Standard & Poor’s upgraded the Moorpark Unified School District’s certificates of participation to A from A-minus based on the its significantly improved financial position.

Standard & Poor’s maintained the BBB-plus rating on the California State Public Works Board’s lease revenue bonds ahead of its upcoming sale.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Toll Authority voted Wednesday to try to buy an office building in San Francisco using bridge toll dollars despite a pending audit.

California’s budget has inspired three new lawsuits this week, adding to worries about its viability.

SAN FRANCISCO - California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a new law giving San Francisco special exemptions to form a tax district on its waterfront to help reimburse the city for the America's Cup and pay for other projects.

While state cutbacks to education funding in California have stressed the Los Angeles Unified School District's operating budget, resulting in the layoff of 1,900 teachers, they have not hampered its building program.

SAN FRANCISCO - Vallejo, Calif., hasn't quite wiggled out of bankruptcy, nearly two months after getting a judge's approval for its exit plan.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority board of directors approved plans last Thursday to issue $250 million of bonds.

SAN FRANCISCO - California plunged into a hungry market this week with its first general obligation bond sale of the year, grabbing yields far below its most recent sale last year.

A series of putable floating option tax-exempt receipts issued by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power was placed on short-term negative rating watch by Fitch Ratings in the wake of Moody’s Investors Service downgrade Wednesday’s of Bank of America.

Los Angeles and Pasadena financial officials filed disclosure notices about the potential impact that Moody’s Investors Service’s downgrade of Bank of America could have on bonds issued by their cities.

A drop in assessed values in Cathedral City, a desert city near Palm Springs, resulted in multi-notch downgrades by Standard & Poor’s on the Cathedral City Public Financing Authority’s merged project area tax-allocation bonds.

California Gov. Jerry Brown is weighing one bill that secures bondholders if a hospital declares bankruptcy, and has already signed another that proponents said could help corporate investment in municipal bonds.

August tax revenue in California came in $65 million below a budget forecast of $6.23 billion, according to the Department of Finance.

The San Diego Chargers are getting pushback from officials on a proposal to combine the city's plans for a new $550 million convention center with plans for a $800 million football stadium.

SAN FRANCISCO - Moody's Investors Service downgraded California Housing Finance Agency home mortgage revenue bonds for the second time this year, affecting $5 billion of debt amid the frail state housing market.