News and Information from Bond Buyer

Standard & Poor's changed its outlook on California to positive from stable based on Gov. Jerry Brown's budget proposal for fiscal year 2015.

The chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday said he expects to have a new funding law for highways, ports, bridges and transit in place before the current one expires on Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2014.

Gov. Jan Brewer called on the Arizona Legislature to create a fund to help keep military bases in the state off of a potential closure list.

New Mayor Bill Peduto is smart to delay Pittsburgh's request to exit a state oversight program for distressed communities, capital markets observers say.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday tapped Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser Carlos Lopez-Cantera to become his lieutenant governor.

Dealer groups are warning the MSRB that a proposal to require an hour of annual muni training for their staffs could actually result in less efficient training and could be confusing, in addition to raising compliance burdens.

After a six-month delay to allow the market to digest Detroit's bankruptcy, Saginaw County, Mich. is bringing $52 million of pension obligation bonds to market Thursday.

The Court of Appeals, New York State's highest court, dismissed Nassau County's legal challenge to the MTA's payroll mobility tax by refusing to hear the case.

Lombard, Ill. faces the possible loss of its investment grade ratings for failing to honor its appropriation commitments and triggering payment default on hotel conference center bonds.

Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 is a step toward continuing California's fiscal recovery, according to Fitch Ratings.

A stable municipal market crossed into the afternoon with the arrival of some of the week's larger deals.

The Federal Open Market Committee's decision to taper bond purchases "pleased" Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President and CEO Richard W. Fisher, who said Tuesday he would have preferred a larger taper and he will push to end asset purchases as quickly as possible.

The economy has reached the "significant improvement in labor market conditions" that the Federal Open Market Committee set as the criteria to end quantitative easing, and the start of tapering is a positive move, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President and Chief Executive Officer Charles I. Plosser said Tuesday.

Armed with triple-A ratings across the board, Greenwich, Conn., will sell $130 million to fund a music auditorium, a fire station and a nursing-home renovation.

The Treasury Department Tuesday auctioned $15 billion of four-week bills at a zero high yield, a price of par.

The municipal market opened Tuesday mostly flat, marked by moderate trading and few sellers.

The value of business inventories rose 0.4%, as retail inventories surged 0.8% to add to an already announced inventory gain at the wholesale level and a flat reading at the factory level, data released Tuesday morning by the Commerce Department showed.

December import prices posted a better than expected result at flat.

The U.S. December retail sales data were about as expected, showing enough strength to end Q4 on a good note despite downward revisions to prior months of sales, and a neutral reading for import prices did not alter the picture of imports not adding to price pressures.