Infrastructure

Transportation proposals were popular with voters during Tuesday's election, with few defeats amid several big-ticket initiatives that passed by wide margins in Texas, California, Maryland, and Wisconsin.

Republicans won enough races in Tuesday's midterm elections to gain control of the Senate - the first time they've controlled both chambers in eight years. At least two Senators who have sponsored bills relating to bonds and state and local finance during the last two years lost their reelection bids.

Tennessee has deferred $400 million of highway projects until 2016 because of concerns the Highway Trust Fund will be insolvent again in May.

More than $10 billion of water and transportation infrastructure proposals are on Tuesday's state and local ballots.

A new guide from AASHTO examines current revenue sources and potential options for bolstering the Highway Trust Fund, including fees based on vehicle miles traveled.

Federal TIFIA loans and similar programs will become more prevalent as conventional highway grants shrink, according to Fitch Ratings, which says TIFIA loans have pluses and minuses for borrowers and other investors.

A proposed $3 billion rapid passenger rail system in the Midwest would cut the five-hour train trip between Chicago to Detroit by almost two hours.

Infrastructure upgrades would expand the economy and make the U.S. more resistant to climate change, a labor-environmental group says.

An overwhelming majority of Texans seem ready to approve a ballot measure moving $1.7 billion/ year into the state road fund.

Local government groups tell Congress they want a bigger share of road funding in the next multi-year federal highway bill.

Maryland voters will decide whether to constitutionally prohibit lawmakers from diverting transportation-dedicated tax revenues to other purposes.

A new train station in downtown Dallas may be the northern terminal of a 240-mile privately financed high-speed rail line to Houston.

Work will get under way next year on D.C.'s $54 billion, 25-year transportation plan, including a new bridge over the Anacostia River.

While finding new revenue sources for highway improvements is indeed a thorny political issue, analysts at Conning feel that the credit quality of the existing bonds remains sound.

While spending on state highways is up, some states are falling further behind on maintenance needs, Reason Foundation says.

Agreement on multi-year federal highway bill possible in post-election congressional session, Transportation Secretary Foxx says.

More city finance officers reported improved fiscal conditions in fiscal 2014 than in the 29-year history of the National League of Cities' city fiscal conditions survey. However, the cities are still not fully recovered from the economic recession, the NLC said in its report on the survey.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew says there is a growing bipartisan consensus in Congress on long-term federal transportation spending.

State debt issuance has been below average and is likely to remain restrained in the near future despite the fact that infrastructure needs are large, Standard and Poor's said in a report released Monday.

Half the states are trying to minimize the impact of climate change on public infrastructure but others are far behind, the Georgetown Climate Center said.