Economy

ATLANTA - The Kentucky Turnpike Authority today will begin selling $200 million of revenue bonds that were authorized for several road projects designed to facilitate economic development in the state.

Fitch Ratings last week upgraded Aurora Health Care Inc. to A from A-minus in recognition of its strong credit profile and establishment as a fully integrated health care delivery system.

A transportation consulting group has proposed a 15.3 mile streetcar system in Austin that would cost $550 million to $614 million to build and $21 million to $23 million a year to operate.

A Senate Finance subcommittee turned a critical eye to the current tax code and public-private partnerships as a solution for infrastructure funding woes during a hearing last week, which came on the heels of a Department of Transportation report that announced record-breaking highs in the number of P3 deals for surface transportation.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority last week advanced a sales tax ballot measure that would raise as much as $40 billion to expand highways and public transportation in the nation's most notoriously congested region.

Portland could be heading to the market next year with a new-money transaction to help finance a $60 million expansion project at the Portland International Jetport.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority will be challenged to close multimillion dollar deficits over the next four years but the New York agency is expected to balance its budget through state and local government assistance, fare increases, or operating cost reductions, Standard & Poor’s said in a report last week.

BRADENTON, Fla. -The Florida Department of Transportation on Wednesday received six responses from firms interested in the state's first-ever lease of an existing toll road, which is known as Alligator Alley.

CHICAGO - Even as rising gas costs threaten Michigan's transportation revenues, the state needs to double spending on its roads and bridges or up to 30% of roads will become unsafe within the next decade, according to a report on the state's transportation system released this week.

DALLAS - With growth coming from the world's largest Army post, El Paso, Tex., is moving toward a $1 billion comprehensive mobility plan that would complete a freeway loop around the city, add a rapid transit system, and build the first two toll roads in the area.

CHICAGO - Under pressure to justify their tax-exemption benefits, nonprofit hospitals in Illinois provided more than $4 billion in charitable care and other community benefits in 2006 and agreed to new pricing caps and discounts for the poor and uninsured, the Illinois Hospital Association asserts in a new report.

The House yesterday approved an $8 billion patch for the anemic Highway Trust Fund, while a Senate committee postponed this week's vote on a stimulus package that would inject billions more into transportation infrastructure.

DALLAS - The Dallas County Hospital District is seeking a November vote on $747 million of general obligation and revenue bonds that would partially finance a $1.27 billion effort to replace Parkland Hospital, Dallas County's charity hospital.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday asked the state, city, and subway and commuter train riders to pony up more money to help the agencyy close a budget gap that would rise to $903 million in 2009.

DALLAS - New Mexico lawmakers will return to Santa Fe Aug. 15 for a special session to deal with issues high on Gov. Bill Richardson's agenda that got short shrift in last spring's regular session.

CHICAGO - With ratings in the double-A category and clearance from the Illinois auditor general, the Chicago Transit Authority is readying its long-planned issue of nearly $2 billion of taxable pension-related bonds for sale as soon as next week.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission yesterday announced that it submitted a revamped application to the Federal Highway Administration, seeking approval to implement tolls on Interstate 80.

Facing a $20 million 2009 budget deficit stemming largely from rising fuel costs, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority last week issued a proposal to raise fares and cut service in Cuyahoga County.

Senate Appropriations Committee members are expected Thursday to vote on transportation funding as part of a second economic stimulus package, Peter Rogoff, staff director of the committee's transportation panel told airport executives meeting here yesterday.

The New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority today will price nearly $250 million of state contract bonds to help support Catholic Health East's buyout of three Newark hospitals, a move that will help eliminate the area's number of vacant hospital beds.