Economy

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.

Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission board members last week asked the agency’s staff to renegotiate some terms of a proposed agreement that would allow Delta Air Lines Inc. to close its local Northwest Airlines Corp. headquarters without triggering repayment of $245 million of debt.

It may be a new year, but problems with derivatives continue to plague the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority after officials spent all of 2008 tackling its costly swap agreements.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell warned yesterday that the national infrastructure reinvestment bank is in danger of being tabled as an option for states and localities to finance projects.

DALLAS - Louisiana legislators on Friday approved without changes the $341 million of current-year budget cuts proposed by Gov. Bobby Jindal to deal with declines in state revenue resulting from steep drops in energy prices.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department said it hopes to obtain almost $400 million for projects from the proposed federal infrastructure stimulus program.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is facing a $176 million gap in its $1.7 billion fiscal 2010 budget that will likely force service cuts and the elimination of 891 jobs, but WMATA officials said they will not increase fares.

WASHINGTON - House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Jim Oberstar has proposed a spending package totaling $85 billion to be included in forthcoming stimulus or economic recovery legislation.

WASHINGTON - The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has received final approval and a promise of $900 million of funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its $5.2 billion Dulles Metrorail extension project, which will be financed with $2 billion of bonds beginning in April.

DALLAS - Stephen F. Austin State University will issue $23 million of revenue bonds next week to build a nursing school and expand other buildings on its Nacogdoches, Tex., campus.

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine on Monday appointed deputy secretary of transportation Barbara Reese as deputy policy director for his office.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority said Monday that its fiscal crisis has worsened since it took measures to deal with a $60 million budget shortfall in mid-December.