Economy

Moody's Investors Service Wednesday downgraded to A2 from Aa3 a Washington hospital's limited tax general obligation bonds affecting $223.9 million in debt.

President Obama's proposal for a Build-America-Bonds-like program for infrastructure has its roots in a proposal by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and some infrastructure analysts say it represents a pro-business pivot from the White House.

A new Reason Foundation study analyzing road trends over the past two decades challenges claims of "crumbling infrastructure," which have been used by transportation advocates and policymakers as justification for everything from higher taxes to new or expanded bond programs.

Florida's Santa Rosa Bay Bridge default makes it the largest issuer in default of its municipal bonds this year, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Texas lawmakers are weighing raising fuel taxes or levying a new sales tax on vehicles and related products.

Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook to negative from stable on the A-minus rating held by Bethesda Health Group due to the balance sheet strains from low occupancy levels and flat revenue growth which heightens concerns over its aggressive debt profile.

The Houston City Council last week approved a lease agreement between William P. Hobby Airport and Southwest Airlines, clearing a path for Southwest's first international flights.

Federal, state and local departments of transportation have so far obligated $7 billion in federal highway funds during fiscal year 2013, a 56% increase over the same period last year, according to a new report from the American Road & Transportation Builders Association.

Managed lanes are the way of the future for transportation finance in Texas, but some experts question how far high-speed tollways can go toward closing highway revenue gaps.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center is planning to close one of its three hospitals in Brooklyn to deal with the center's financial problems.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell reaffirms commitment to alternative transit options following the release of a study placing Oahu's rush hour traffic second in the nation behind Los Angeles.

Public finance officials and infrastructure investors need to stop talking about "the deal" and start managing political risks with clear, easily understood language, participants at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce panel said Wednesday.

Chicago's plans to enter the market later this year with up to $900 million of O'Hare International Airport revenue debt to raise about $300 million for the airport's capital improvement program and ongoing $8 billion runway expansion program.

Market participants say munis are key to reaching the infrastructure goals laid out in President Obama's State of the Union Address, but caution that cuts to munis' tax benefits could make it difficult to fund the large-scale projects Obama described.

Transportation and business leaders on Wednesday discussed controversial solutions for funding American infrastructure, including Build America Bonds, gasoline tax increases, and wider use of tolling.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority held more than $90 million in funds and bank accounts that it could have used to meet budgeted costs, state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.

Chicago has struck a tentative collective bargaining agreement with one of its smaller unions that includes pension benefit and retiree healthcare reforms that Mayor Rahm Emanuel characterized Tuesday as a possible roadmap to help solve the city's pension crisis.

Moody's Investors Service last week downgraded its underlying rating to Baa1 from A2 on Northeast Ohio Medical University.

The Indiana Motor Speedway would be able to issue up to $100 million of bonds backed by a new pledge of state taxes under a bill set to be debated Thursday.

Moody's Investors Service said it downgraded $20 billion of non-profit health care debt last year, a 213% jump from 2011 and the most since the ratings agency starting tracking the number in 1995.