Infrastructure

Aerostar Airport Holdings and Gruopo Aeuropuertos Avance submitted their proposals for a public-private partnership to run the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport this week.

Big bond commitments will be a major piece of the funding puzzle when it comes to constructing a national high-speed rail system, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood affirmed Wednesday.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has submitted his nominations for the new Chicago Infrastructure Trust to the City Council.

A U.S. appeals court will take up a lawsuit as early as October that attacks the financial backing of billions of bonds paying for the Washington Metrorail's Silver Line Extension to Dulles Airport.

Bond Dealers of America released a guide Thursday designed to help the group's members comply with recently-approved guidance from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board regarding what underwriters must disclose to muni bond issuers.

For states planning cash flows over the next two years, passage of the federal Highway Bill creates a positive scenario for grant anticipation revenue vehicles known as Garvees, according to ratings analysts.

President Obama will sign the compromise two-year, $105 billion highway bill at a White House ceremony on July 6.

Federal lawmakers approved a 27-month, $105 billion surface transportation bill Friday, protecting revenue streams crucial for state and local infrastructure financing despite the absence of municipal bond measures that had been sought by market advocates

A long-awaited federal highway bill does not include the bond-friendly provisions championed by muni market groups and public finance advocates.

Officials from the Chicago Transit Authority Monday said a $20 million federal TIGER grant would allow the agency to move forward with upgrades to a busy transit terminal.

Several municipal bond provisions that have gotten strong support from muni lobbyists, market participants, and state governments and which were included in the Senate-passed highway bill may not survive eleventh-hour House-Senate committee negotiations, stakeholders say.

With the initial development period on military housing privatization winding down, coping with uncertainty was the theme of the Bond Buyer conference in Washington.

The latest round of TIGER grant funding will disburse nearly $500 million to 47 projects in 34 states and the District of Columbia, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Friday. The Department of Transportation received 703 applications from all 50 states, U.S. territories, and D.C. The awards ranged from $1 million to $21.6 million.

The American Public Power Association and a California Public Agency have commented on proposed IRS governmental plan regulations, suggesting changes to provide certainty to existing participants in governmental plans.

With the final step in the federal environmental review process completed this week, the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges Project will allow Kentucky and Indiana to award construction contracts before the end of the year and the spans will serve to ease congestion across the Ohio River, said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has released $10 million under its TIGER grant program to modernize the infrastructure and warehouse facilities at the Hunts Point Terminal Market in New York City’s Bronx borough.

Chicago Blue Line Renewal & City Bike Share, Ill., $20 million I-95 HOT Lanes, Northern Va., $20 million State Route 91 Corridor Improvements, Calif., $20 million South Jersey Port Rail Improvements, N.J., $18.50 million LYNX Blue Line Capacity Expansion, N.C., $18 million Sellwood Bridge Replacement, Ore., $17.7 million Port of Long Beach Rail Realignment, Calif., $17 million Port of New Orleans Rail Yard Improvements, La., $16.7 million

The popular federal TIGER grant program for major transportation projects would be axed if Republicans get their way.

WASHINGTON — The push for Congress to pass long-term highway funding legislation is reaching a fever pitch two weeks before the current law expires, as Sen. Barbara Boxer led a rally Wednesday urging approval of her two-year transportation bill in time to avoid another extension.

States' fiscal conditions are improving and, despite ongoing uncertainties, many of them can be expected to maintain good credit ratings and to try to lock in low interest rates with additional bond financings, officials of two groups said Tuesday.