Economy

Standard & Poor’s Friday revised the outlook on the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey to stable from negative and affirmed its BBB rating on the credit.

WASHINGTON - Growing mark-to-market liabilities for interest rate swaps are posing credit risks that could result in downgrades for some not-for-profit hospitals, higher education institutions, and other nonprofit borrowers, Moody's Investors Service warned in a report issued yesterday.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Municipal bond issuance in the Southeast last year took the largest tumble of any region in the country. Volume fell in all four quarters of 2008 as the credit crunch worsened and - as one financial adviser put it - the rules kept changing.

CHICAGO - Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and legislative leaders yesterday announced measures to trim about $700 million from the state's $5.7 billion, three-year budget deficit through spending cuts, a hospital assessment program that leverages more federal funds, and other maneuvers.

CHICAGO - A pair of recent surveys show that nearly half of nonprofit hospitals have postponed or significantly cut back on their capital budgets in light of economic woes, including increased difficulty in accessing the bond market.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Facing a deficit that could run $1 billion or more, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen Monday night told lawmakers he would delay submitting his budget until Congress passes an economic stimulus bill that's projected to bring the state more than $3 billion.

The University of Chicago Medical Center this week announced 450 layoffs of non-physician positions as part of a restructuring aimed at trimming $100 million in costs.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and officials from across San Diego County late Monday announced a $4 billion plan to renovate Lindbergh Field, the city's main commercial airport.

CHICAGO - A flood of refundings by Midwestern issuers looking to shed auction-rate securities and variable-rate bonds backed by downgraded insurers in the second quarter of 2008 couldn't compensate for a steep fourth-quarter drop-off in borrowing amid the economic and market turmoil of last fall.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee begins consideration today of a multiyear Federal Aviation Administration bill that would authorize $16.2 billion for bond-related airport grants.

WASHINGTON - The Senate yesterday voted 61 to 37 to approve its $838 billion economic stimulus legislation, setting the stage for House and Senate conferees to begin to resolve the differences between their two bills, including six differing bond-related provisions.

Michigan’s hospitals are on the “brink of fiscal crisis,” a new report by the Michigan Health and Hospital Association says.

Expecting to receive about $220 million in federal stimulus funds for infrastructure, the Utah Department of Transportation last week listed 44 projects that should be ready to start within three months.

WASHINGTON - The Senate late yesterday voted 61 to 36 to approve a procedural motion to limit debate on a $829 billion compromise economic stimulus bill that would revise two key muni bond provisions.

CHICAGO - Chicago-based BMO Capital Markets, the investment banking arm of the Bank of Montreal, has hired veteran Chicago-based banker Brian McGough to launch a public finance health care business.

Colorado lawmakers are splitting along party lines on support for a road-building initiative called Funding Advancement for Surface Development and Economic Recovery — also known as “Faster.”

NEW YORK - Rumors continue to circulate in Massachusetts regarding a potential gas-tax increase while the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority heads toward a possible toll hike vote to help it meet its financing needs.

The Montana Facility Finance Authority is appealing an Internal Revenue Service proposed adverse determination that concluded the interest earned from $14.15 million of variable-rate demand revenue bonds it issued to finance an expansion of a nursing home would be taxable.

A real estate deal that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority expected to bring in $700 million for capital spending is on hold, the New York agency announced last week.

Massachusetts Senate leaders yesterday moved forward with their plan to combine the state's surface transportation operations, including roads, bridges, and mass transit systems, under one entity called the Massachusetts Surface Transportation Authority, or MassTrans.