California

ALAMEDA, Calif. — A bill designed to make it harder for California local governments and agencies to file for bankruptcy cleared a key committee Tuesday afternoon.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — With no obvious progress in sight on California’s seriously overdue budget, state financial officials announced plans to defer ­almost $3 billion in payments to schools and county governments next month.

MENLO PARK, Calif. — The Southern California Public Power Authority Tuesday priced $525.6 million of revenue bonds that will be used to secure power from a wind farm in Washington State.

A California Senate committee Friday voted down a bill that would have banned local agencies from hiring bond underwriters that provided campaign services for the election authorizing the debt.

Some California cities may have their bond-issuing abilities limited by a bill introduced last week by lawmakers responding to the crisis in Bell, where freewheeling financial policies have resulted in the resignations of three city officials.

Many California government employees are off without pay today, after the state Supreme Court said that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could implement his order furloughing workers for three Fridays per month.

Moody's Investors Service placed Fresno Pacific University's Ba2 rating on a watchlist for a possible downgrade.

Moody's Investors Service cut Torrance Memorial Medical Center's long-term rating to A2 from A1 ahead of a $234 million issue planned for next month.

Democrats fell short Tuesday in their effort to pick up an additional seat in the California Senate.

Fitch Ratings dropped its ratings on Bell to junk Tuesday, as the small Southern California city continued to reel from its unusual financial practices, which included paying a former city administrator almost $800,000 a year.

California Controller John Chiang said the city of Bell has been illegally taxing property owners for its retirement obligations, undercutting assumptions the city used to sell more than $9 million of pension obligation bonds in 2005.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Issuers in the Far West sold $43.36 billion of municipal bonds in 672 transactions during the first six months of 2010, according to Thomson Reuters, down from $47.12 billion in 600 transactions in the first half of 2009.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — National Public Finance Guarantee Corp. this week asked the judge handling the Vallejo bankruptcy case to order the resumption of state intercept payments that back one of the California city’s debt issues.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California lawmakers voted late Monday to remove an $11.4 billion general obligation bond measure from the November ballot, and delay it until 2012.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California Treasurer Bill Lockyer has spent more money this year trying to elect his wife to a new job than he has spent on his own re-election campaign.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Officials in Beverly Hills, Calif., were concerned about the city’s growing liability for the future health care costs of its current employees.

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., has asked the Treasury Department for clarification of a tax law provision pertaining to qualified energy conservation bonds that she fears may be unintentionally preventing a solar-panel factory project in her district from taking full advantage of all the tax incentives available.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Former California Debt and Investment Advisory Commission staffer Mark Campbell has returned to take the reins as executive director of the state clearinghouse for debt-issuance information.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has pulled the plug on one of his pet projects.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The good news: two California leaders are on record saying when they will be ready to get the state budget done. The bad news: it’s after the November election.