Economy

The Virginia Department of Transportation turned over control of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Monday, moving forward on a $5.2 billion Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport and $2 billion of tax-exempt bonds that will finance it.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Democratic state Sen. Dave Aronberg was reelected this week, giving him the chance to follow through with legislation aimed at curtailing the use of transportation-related public-private partnerships in Florida.

WASHINGTON - House and Senate Democratic leaders said yesterday that they will push for a second economic stimulus package when Congress returns to Washington for a lame-duck session on Nov. 17.

Despite a faltering national economy, voters by and large gave a very favorable reception to bond referendums on Tuesday's ballot.

CHICAGO - The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority expects to enter the market today with between $300 million and $400 million of fixed-rate, new-money revenue bonds to raise funds for its ongoing $6.2 billion rebuilding of the tollway system.

WASHINGTON - More than three years after its creation, the Department of Transportation's $15 billion private-activity bond program designed to help states and localities finance infrastructure through private investment - a program that DOT officials want to expand - has resulted in only one $589 million transaction.

New Jersey officials are working on a $750 million new-money New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority bond sale that includes $250 million of capital appreciation bonds.

Miami Valley Hospital in Montgomery County plans to issue $70 million of fixed-rate revenue bonds this week, followed by another $180 million of variable-rate bonds, to refund some of its debt and finance capital expenditures.

DALLAS - Denver plans to refinance $200 million of variable-rate airport bonds today and another $93 million on Friday to rid the debt of backing by MBIA Insurance Co. When the deals close, Denver International Airport will have refinanced $1.1 billion of debt this year.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Memphis-based Morgan Keegan & Co. has hired Maureen A. Spivack as a managing director in the firm's Shattuck Hammond Partners health care division in New York.

SAN FRANCISCO - Tumbling gasoline prices and an economic meltdown are creating an uphill battle for a host of California transit bond measures that looked promising just a few months ago.

WASHINGTON - The Virginia Supreme Court on Friday reversed a lower court and ruled that the Glebe, an upscale continuing-care retirement community near Roanoke, is exempt from local taxes, a decision that eases the facility's concerns of owing hundreds of thousands of back taxes and improves its finances.

New Hampshire today will sell $150 million of general obligation new-money debt that will help support highway projects and infrastructure improvements throughout the state.

New car sales — a major component of California’s sales tax base — are down substantially in the state, according to a trade group.

DALLAS - The Texas Transportation Commission yesterday approved loan guarantees allowing the North Texas Tollway Authority to build a $1.3 billion turnpike on Dallas' west side, but not everyone was happy about it.

CHICAGO - Shortly after clearing its final federal regulatory hurdle, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines formally closed on its acquisition Wednesday of Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines Corp., six months after the proposed union was first announced.

WASHINGTON - In a hearing yesterday before a U.S. district court judge here, KBC Bank NV of Belgium agreed to give the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 10 more business days to make a $43 million termination payment on a sale-leaseback deal that has technically defaulted.

WASHINGTON - The municipal bond market and state and local governments could benefit more from the election of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama as president than his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain, according to an analysis of their tax, economic recovery and other proposals, as well as interviews with market participants and economists.

CHICAGO - Just days after closing its doors and preparing for liquidation, officials at a bankrupt Pontiac, Mich.-based hospital that has defaulted on bond payments twice this year said a deal to sell the facility remains possible if prospective buyers can secure financing.

A lawyer for two Dulles Toll Road users said his clients are still reviewing whether to appeal a Richmond circuit court judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit challenging Virginia’s transfer of the road from the state’s Department of Transportation to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.