Economy

A bill drafted to facilitate the creation of high-occupancy toll lanes on the State Route 91 freeway in Riverside County cleared the Assembly Monday on a 74-to-1 vote. The Senate has already approved the bill, but it will need to reconsider it because of technical amendments added in the Assembly.

CHICAGO - Credit quality is beginning to deteriorate across the not-for-profit health care sector as providers grapple with an array of financial pressures, said Standard & Poor's in a pair of reports on the sector released yesterday.

DALLAS - A $747 million bond proposal to rebuild Dallas' crowded Parkland Hospital will share the November ballot with candidates for state and federal office in what some expect to be a record turnout.

The New York State Department of Transportation has preliminarily selected a group led by Merrill Lynch & Co. to serve as financial adviser on the multibillion-dollar Tappan Zee Bridge corridor project, NYSDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Post said yesterday.

The $300 million of Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds allocated for a rail car manufacturing plant in Colbert County, Ala., would be in jeopardy under a bill that has been introduced in the House that would effectively block any tax-exempt financing for the project.

WASHINGTON - Moody's Investors Service changed its outlook to negative for U.S. airports in a report issued today, one of two new rating agency reports on the sector's credit.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority advanced borrowing plans totaling about $700 million for a handful of schools, cultural institutions, hospitals, and a pioneering proton therapy center in West Chicago to treat cancer.

SAN FRANCISCO - As he had threatened, the federal receiver charged with bringing California's prison health care system up to constitutional muster yesterday sought a court order demanding $8 billion from the state government to build health care facilities.

The Orange County, Fla., Health Facilities Authority has disclosed that the Internal Revenue Service has closed an arbitrage rebate-related examination of $109.6 million of hospital revenue bonds it issued in 2002 without changing their tax-exempt status.

DALLAS - Supporters of a $42 billion transportation plan said yesterday they plan to sue Arizona Secretary of State Jan Brewer for invalidating the petition to place the proposal on the November ballot.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors yesterday placed the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $40 billion sales tax measure on the November ballot.

Rapid City-based Regional Health is set to enter the market Thursday with $67.5 million of variable-rate demand bonds, most of which will be used to refund insured variable-rate debt originally sold in 2003.

DALLAS - Texas' Bexar County Hospital District will sell the first tax-supported debt in 43 years with Monday's negotiated sale of $274.1 million of combination tax and revenue certificates of obligation.

Massachusetts could tap into tobacco settlement and rainy-day funds to help pay down a $13.3 billion other post-employment benefit liability, according to a report released last week on the commonwealth's unfunded health care costs.

A proposal New York Gov. David Paterson announced yesterday to cut local assistance spending by 6% and to cut $506 million from Medicaid spending drew sharp criticism from organizations representing hospitals and municipalities.

DALLAS - Baylor College of Medicine in Texas will get closer to eliminating its outstanding auction-rate debt and all outstanding debt enhanced with insurance from Ambac Assurance Co. with next week's planned negotiated sale of $255 million of hospital revenue refunding bonds by the Harris County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corp.

WASHINGTON - The anemic federal highway trust fund and the overall U.S. transportation funding system are in dire need of help from Washington lawmakers, Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla., said yesterday at a meeting of transportation officials in Florida.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority can now use the state's appropriation pledge on an upcoming $800 million refunding deal after Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday signed into law a more than $2 billion general bond bill that will help finance capital improvements throughout the state.

CHICAGO - A DuPage County, Ill., Circuit Court judge yesterday cleared the path for Chicago's demolition of about 500 suburban homes to make room for the $7.5 billion runway expansion plan at O'Hare International Airport, although local opponents vowed to carry on their legal challenge.

DALLAS - With airlines under unprecedented financial stress, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is continuing to cut costs to help its tenants survive, officials said yesterday.