Economy

A bill introduced last week would ask Michigan voters to raise the state sales tax by 2 percentage points to generate new money for transportation infrastructure funding.

A House committee last week approved a long-stalled bill that would fund a $1.3 billion mass-transit expansion in central Indiana.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, Ill. – which is preparing to merge with the higher rated Edward Hospital and Health Services -- one notch to BBB due to its weak operating performance.

The Internal Revenue Service has begun auditing $60.625 million of Build America Bonds issued in June 2009 by Louisiana for transportation projects.

Stephens Inc. was picked as Arkansas' financial advisor for up to $1.3 billion of revenue bonds to finance a statewide highway program.

Connecticut again weighs restoring highway tolls amid budgetary struggles, a raided lockbox transportation fund and less available federal money down the road.

Gov. Rick Scott upped his spending and borrowing plans for 2014 proposing Florida's largest ever annual budget at $74.2 billion along with $730 million of bonds for transportation projects.

A Kansas highway coalition will fight a state House Taxation Committee bill to divert sales tax revenues from a bond-financed transportation program into the general fund.

The Florida Department of Transportation is forging ahead with its biggest public-private partnership to date: a $2.1 billion managed-lanes venture dubbed the Interstate 4 Ultimate Project.

The Texas Transportation Commission plans to develop a major Dallas-Fort Worth freeway as a tolled public-private partnership and is re-issuing a request for qualifications for a similar project at an adjoining highway.

Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic hopes to land $500 million of state bonding help over the next two decades to support a proposed $5 billion capital improvement and economic development plan that aims to both improve its own facilities and remake its home city.

Increase in passenger traffic at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, Calif. partly attributed to new international terminal offerings.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority must consider the age of its subway system and a strained budget when considering technical enhancements, officials said.

New York's MTA said it saved $310 million by terminating three leveraged lease agreements that exposed itself to downgraded bond insurer Assured Guaranty.

Los Angeles and San Diego are both crafting plans to rectify years of deferred maintenance resulting in crumbling city streets and sidewalks.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry called for a constitutional amendment that would allow $1.8 billion in tax relief and a budget that would use $3.7 billion from the rainy day fund for water and transportation projects.

U.S. airports have $71.3 billion in capital needs through 2017, a major airport interest group said Tuesday, a funding goal that they are not on track to meet.

Public-private partnerships are "toxic" to a lot of people and the mere mention of them can hinder projects, California Treasurer Bill Lockyer said Tuesday. Lockyer said, "Avoid talking about public-private partnerships. They are toxic with a lot of people."

Joan Marron has taken over as executive director and head of Morgan Stanley's health care group after former co-head David Ertel left for another job.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is scheduled to come to market Thursday with a $232 million sale of revenue bonds in three series. Barclays is lead manager.