Economy

The New York Thruway Authority has picked the lowest priced design option for a new Tappan Zee bridge north of New York City.

Standard & Poor's shifted its outlook to stable from negative as the Arizona Transportation Board plans to issue $712 million of revenue bonds after the first of the year.

Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook to stable from positive on Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Ministries Inc.'s BBB-plus rating.

An oversight panel chaired by California treasurer Bill Lockyer is analyzing the bond debt of the San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agency and the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency to determine if they can take on more debt to fund a planned extension.

The finance committee of New York's MTA approved the borrowing of up to $2.5 billion in long-term bonds to cover Hurricane Sandy-related repair costs.

The Phoenix City Council adopted a one-year tax on local hospitals to generate up to $130 million a year as matching funds for federal healthcare.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is at the forefront of a nationwide push to create a new tax-credit bond program for transportation investment.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell unveiled his proposed amendments to Virginia's 2012-2014 budget, an $86 billion two-year plan he said prepares Virginia for the fiscal cliff by increasing cash reserves and flexibility and puts transportation revenue on a firmer footing.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority should increase its base fare to $2.50 from $2.25 among other changes, Chairman Joseph Lhota told the board.

Kentucky and Ohio are forming a bi-state management team to determine how to finance a new, $2.5 billion bridge over the Ohio River between Cincinnati and Covington, Ky.

The corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston is ripe for public-private partnership rail development if the government gets behind it, according to testimony given before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Thursday.

After considering a lease of the Ohio Turnpike to private investors, Gov. John Kasich Thursday said he wants to keep the asset in public hands and hopes to issue $1.5 billion of bonds backed by future toll revenue.

The findings of the State Budget Crisis Task Force show that Virginia is in a stronger fiscal position than other large states, but still must begin making changes to close persistent funding shorfalls.

A lawsuit challenging the legality of the Dulles Rail project's toll-powered funding mechanism will have to head to yet another venue after the federal court weighing the case decided it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the matter.

The transportation infrastructure sector is expected to be stable across the board in 2013 despite fiscal cliff pressures and long-term funding concerns, according to Fitch Ratings.

Hoping to entice buyers looking for reinvestments in January, the Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority sells up to $500M of bonds Thursday after a successful November issuance.

Market-based solutions are needed to reform the United States healthcare system, said a former chief executive officer of pharmaceutical giant Merck at The Bond Buyer's 501(c)3 conference.

Gov. John Kasich Thursday is expected to unveil his long-awaited plan to wring cash out of the Ohio Turnpike, a 241-mile toll road that is one of the state's most lucrative assets.

The $3 billion bond-funded Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas faces a criminal investigation over an $11 million grant to a company backed by a major campaign contributor to Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, according to the Travis County District Attorney's public integrity unit.

Public-private partnerships will take over operations in 2013 at three Louisiana State University hospitals and another one under construction.