Economy

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."

DALLAS - New Orleans' recovery director said yesterday that bond-financed projects in the city are viable despite sluggish sales of Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds dedicated to economic restoration efforts.

CHICAGO - Winning the praise of many lawmakers and business and health care groups, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle this week resurrected a plan to impose a new assessment on hospitals with the aim of raising an additional $300 million annually in federal Medicaid funds.

WASHINGTON - House appropriations and tax committees yesterday described several municipal bond initiatives among the $550 billion of spending provisions and $275 billion of targeted tax cuts to be included in economic stimulus legislation, which lawmakers hope to take up beginning next week.

The Florida Department of Transportation has postponed the date that bids are due for the potential leasing of Alligator Alley, an existing toll road in South Florida.

WASHINGTON - An Internal Revenue Service audit of bonds issued in connection with a Montana continuing care retirement facility could have widespread implications regarding whether refundable entrance fees common to CCRCs are so-called "replacement proceeds" whose investment must be yield-restricted for arbitrage purposes.

Massachusetts Senate leaders yesterday released their proposal to reform the state's transportation system with the goal of bringing efficiency and cost-savings to roadways, bridges, and mass transit operations.

Chicago’s $2.5 billion lease of Midway Airport is no longer on track to win federal approval before the change in presidential administrations, as Federal Aviation Administration officials await additional financial information from the private operators that won the lease.

Chicago O’Hare International Airport officials said last week an appellate court ruling that halted the demolition of some suburban properties will negatively affect the cost and timing of an $8 billion expansion project.

WASHINGTON - The Internal Revenue Service will use the information that tax-exempt hospitals submit to it under the new Form 990 to determine if they provide enough community benefits to remain tax-exempt, a top IRS official said this week.