Economy

CHICAGO - Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics expressed surprise late last week at the Minnesota attorney general's decision to file a lawsuit against the system over the credit-card like interest rates it charges on medical debts, saying it had already decided to lower those rates.

The South Jersey Port Corp. last week sold $25.8 million of debt aided by radio and print advertisements for a sister bond deal as retail buyers held back on the bonds.

President Obama's cabinet grew last week as the Senate confirmed Shaun Donovan as the new secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Ray LaHood as head of the Department of Transportation.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority expects OSF Healthcare System and Rush University Medical Center to soon join in on the slow trickle of struggling health care borrowers testing market interest in their sector's debt so far this year.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Florida's largest public-private project may be back on after all.

Responding to difficulties accessing the credit market with competitive deals, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey yesterday raised its maximum allowable interest rate on debt issuance to 12% from 8%.

CHICAGO - While the market has strengthened for many issuers over the last month, nonprofit health care providers continue to struggle to sell bonds at attractive prices - a problem that is likely to persist throughout 2009, Standard & Poor's predicted in a grim report on the sector issued yesterday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed yesterday that she will bring $358 billion of bond-related and other federal spending provisions to the House floor next week as part of the economic stimulus package.

CHICAGO - Two Midwestern hospitals have postponed plans for high-profile cancer treatment centers - of which only five now exist nationally - citing a weak bond market for health care projects.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines is ready to launch a $519 million redevelopment of its flagship Love Field Airport in Dallas, even though the carrier's growth is "suspended indefinitely," chairman Gary Kelly said yesterday.

CHICAGO - The Regional Transportation Authority is considering taking out a short-term loan if Illinois fails in the next few weeks to catch up on $160 million of matching sales-tax dollars it owes to the agency.

The New York State Thruway Authority yesterday authorized the sale of up to $450 million of tax-exempt bonds on the state's second general highway and bridge trust fund credit. The deal comprises up to $250 million of new money and up to $200 million of refunding.

The House Appropriations Committee yesterday amended its proposal for the spending portion of the economic recovery package, easing a use-it-or-lose-it provision that would have required states to obligate their funds from the stimulus bill within four months.

Former Rep. Ray LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, yesterday was poised to become secretary of the Department of Transportation after he sailed through a Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination.

DALLAS - Woman's Hospital of Baton Rouge has halted construction on a hospital replacement project until it can sell up to $350 million of bonds to finance the effort.

CHICAGO - Under pressure to act soon, the financially strapped St. Louis Metro transit agency is weighing how best to restructure $100 million of insured floating-rate bonds from a 2002 issue, a task complicated by increased liquidity costs and possible swap termination payments.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is gearing up to address its problematic auction-rate securities with a $225 million bond sale set to price this month that will refinance some of the debt into variable-rate mode. It also hopes to sell $275 million of notes to buy back more of its $800 million of outstanding ARS.

Dallas Area Rapid Transit has named former Irving municipal finance manager David Leininger as its new chief financial officer. Leininger will supervise all financial activities, including budgeting, financial planning, federal funding, accounts payable, and general accounting.

Gov. Bill Ritter Jr. and legislative leaders hope to ease Colorado’s transportation funding crisis with a program dubbed FASTER, for Funding Advancement for Surface Transportation Economic Recovery.

The Jan. 7 article by Michelle Kaske alleges that "questions continue" over the billing and financial practices at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She refers to an October article in which the Newark Star-Ledger reported that UMDNJ "continued to overbill even during a two-year period when there was a federal monitor observing the school."