Infrastructure

Uncertainty about federal highway funding is causing some states to turn from Garvee bonds to alternative financings, such as toll-backed debt and public-private partnerships, but issuers should be aware of the risks involved, Fitch Ratings warned Wednesday.

Georgia in June plans to sell between $90 million and $100 million of general obligation bonds as part of the financing for a $140 million highway designed to improve truck access at the Port of Savannah.

Top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee showed support for Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden’s transportation tax-credit bond proposal Tuesday, indicating for the first time that the GOP may back the taxable bonds if they don’t add to federal spending.

SAN FRANCISCO — Southern California’s San Joaquin Hills toll road has gotten a green light from bondholders to restructure $2 billion of debt that helps avoid a default.

The Toledo-Lucas Port Authority entered into a closing agreement with the Internal Revenue Service to preserve the tax-exempt status for $3.5 million of 2005 bonds after the IRS found they were taxable.

The United States “effectively shrugs off infrastructure” amid escalating government deficits and cash-strapped taxpayers, according to an annual report released by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young on Monday.

DALLAS — A multibillion-dollar series of projects to reshape how travelers get to and through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport have all begun construction, with completion expected to take six years.

WASHINGTON — Prospects look dim for U.S. airports to obtain the authority to charge higher passenger facility charges, which would generate more revenue to back bond issues.

Senate Commerce Committee chairman Jay Rockefeller D-W.Va., introduced a bill Wednesday that would create a national infrastructure bank and fund it with $10 billion over two fiscal years.

Two Florida lawmakers who unsuccessfully sued Republican Gov. Rick Scott to prevent him from turning down $2.4 billion of federal funds for high-speed rail blasted the governor Monday when other states and Amtrak won the money.