Economy

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to competitively market $300 million of federally taxable notes on Wednesday. The deal will be the largest competitive municipal debt sale since the market froze up in mid-September following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

Swap agreements continue to plague the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, as the agency would need to pay approximately $450 million in combined termination fees in the event of further credit rating downgrades.

CHICAGO - Michigan's William Beaumont Hospital is expected to enter the market this week with roughly $170 million of revenue bonds after it significantly scaled back its capital plan in the face of operational challenges and a volatile credit market.

To stimulate investment in infrastructure and to boost domestic employment, Congress should permit pension fund purchasers of municipal bonds to reassign only the tax-benefit - the exemption feature - of those bonds to U.S. taxpayers seeking tax deductions.

New Jersey officials are holding out for better market conditions on a $169 million Solaris Health System refinancing that's part of the state's Hospital Asset Transformation Program.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama yesterday vowed to work closely with state and local officials to craft his two-year, multibillion-dollar stimulus plan and stressed that it will focus on providing funding for transportation and infrastructure projects that are already underway or ready to go.

The Metro transit agency late last week approved a 50-cent fare increase in a move aimed at shoring up its operating budget following voter rejection earlier this month of a sales tax hike.

Only weeks after downgrading the credit, Moody’s Investors Service this week revised its outlook on William Beaumont Hospital to negative from stable as it prepares to issue $169 million of revenue bonds.

A month after it was forced to purchase a chunk of its own debt when it was unable to access the frozen credit markets, a Kalamazoo-based hospital plans to try again early next month.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The North Carolina Turnpike Authority plans next week to announce a concessionaire to enter into a pre-development agreement for the Mid-Currituck Bridge project, the agency's first public-private partnership.

CHICAGO - The Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission will vote next month on a $125.8 million capital budget, as a $800 million terminal expansion remains on hold and officials await a proposal from Delta Air Lines over repayment of commission-backed bonds issued for the former Northwest Airlines.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama yesterday announced his economic team and said he has directed them to draft a broad, multibillion-dollar stimulus package within the next two months that would provide funds for infrastructure projects. He also warned that the deficit will grow significantly whether or not stimulus legislation is enacted and did not rule out repealing Bush administration tax cuts before they expire.

DALLAS - Utah has halted $3.9 billion of road projects representing all new construction amid a worsening budget crunch, officials said.

The Triborough Bridge connecting Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge last week, but don’t look for TBTA — Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority — debt to be renamed “RFKBTA” bonds.

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., have introduced a bill that would provide up to $8 billion of private-activity bonds for high-speed rail projects, as well as create a new category of tax-credit bonds to further encourage rail development.

A plan to increase tolls in Massachusetts is facing resistance from legislative leaders, while Gov. Deval Patrick works on a plan to dismantle the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority even though rising debt service costs necessitate additional revenue for the agency in the short term.

The once high-profile plan to use a public-private partnership to build a rail link between Oakland International Airport and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District’s rail system appears to have expired quietly.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled a beggar's budget yesterday that threatens draconian service cuts and fare and toll increases if it doesn't get help from the city, state and federal governments. In order to close a $1.2 billion gap in 2009, the MTA would reduce staff and cut subway lines and bus routes as well as hiking tolls and fares to yield an additional 23% of revenue.

CHICAGO - Chicago's $8 billion O'Hare International Airport runway reconfiguration and expansion program marked a major milestone yesterday with the official opening of the first new runway amid questions over airlines' financial support for the future phases of the massive construction project.

CHICAGO - The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board yesterday approved a $1.8 billion, bond-financed plan to build new interstate interchanges and add bus and ride-sharing commuter lanes - investments billed as the second phase of the $6.3 billion congestion-relief program now underway.