California

SAN FRANCISCO — Vallejo, Calif., has reached a tentative agreement with Union Bank that pays the bankrupt city’s largest creditor roughly 60 cents on the dollar.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The primary lobbying group for municipal underwriters in California is under investigation by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California may be in a tough budget position, but it’s not facing an imminent cash crisis, state financial officials said.

WASHINGTON — California Treasurer Bill Lockyer on Monday warned that discussions about states going bankrupt are misguided and lead to higher interest rates on state debt that hurts both issuers and investors.

SAN FRANCISCO — Pension liabilities have tripled from a year ago due to investment losses, siphoning scarce funds from San Francisco at a time when elected officials are already facing a $360 million budget shortfall.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. has hired Joanie Jones-Kelly as a senior vice president.

SAN FRANCISCO —– The bankrupt city of Vallejo, Calif. has so far avoided inflicting severe damage to its bondholders, experts say.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Los Angeles County has withdrawn from the California Statewide Communities Development Authority, the state’s largest conduit issuer.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California Gov. Jerry Brown has extended the state of fiscal emergency declared by his predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

VALLEJO, Calif. — Officials said Thursday that Vallejo is nearing a deal with its largest creditor and is looking at curbing employee benefits as it struggles to climb out of bankruptcy.

Fitch Ratings downgraded San Jose redevelopment bonds four notches Tuesday, lowering $1.7 billion in San Jose Redevelopment Agency tax allocation bonds to BBB-minus from A. At the same time, the agency’s housing set-aside tax allocation bonds were downgraded to A from A-plus.

SAN FRANCISCO — The city of Vallejo, Calif., filed a plan to exit bankruptcy that proposes to pay unsecured creditors 5 to 20 cents on the dollar.

SAN FRANCISCO — Los Angeles is kicking around a plan to lease city-owned garages to a public-private partnership to raise cash that could help close a budget gap and defease outstanding bonds.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Some California redevelopment agencies are already working to undermine a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown that would phase them out and use their surplus revenue to help balance the state budget.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Faced with a $30 million legal judgment after losing two rounds in court, the financial fate of the small ski resort town of Mammoth Lakes is in the hands of the California Supreme Court.

SAN FRANCISCO — California’s Sutter Health will sell $900 million of tax-exempt revenue bonds this month in the health care provider’s first trip to market in two years.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The battle over the future of redevelopment may be one of the most polarizing issues in what could be a landmark year in California’s long-running budget drama.

SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland’s city attorney has taken a public stand against a plan by the city to sell bonds so it can continue to skip making payments toward growing public-safety pension liabilities.

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Jerry Brown announced Monday what he described as a draconian budget proposal to bridge a $28 billion deficit.

SACRAMENTO — The budget proposal Gov. Jerry Brown released Monday calls for California not to issue any new general obligation bonds this spring, according to a state official.