Economy

Part of a noise-mitigation plan for Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has fallen apart after the Federal Aviation Administration disapproved portions of it.

The Federal Highway Administration last week approved the location of the $1.9 billion Wekiva Parkway, a 27-mile toll road that would complete a beltway around western metropolitan Orlando.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Senate passed legislation Tuesday raising the state's cigarette tax by $1 as part of a $2.7 billion Medicaid reform package aimed at easing the program's strain on state finances.

CHICAGO — The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority is bringing $41.7 million of highly rated sales-tax-backed bonds to market Thursday.

CHICAGO — The Illinois House approved a bill Friday that raises the cigarette tax by $1 and establishes charity care standards for the state's nonprofit hospitals in order to preserve their property tax exemption.

Tulsa County, Okla., officials are considering a $340 million package intended to keep American Airlines and other aviation-related businesses at Tulsa International Airport.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority will go to market on Wednesday with a $250 million sale of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority bonds after Moody's Investors Service downgraded the TBTA's bonds last week.

Backers of alternatives to traditional highway financing are ramping up efforts to win over policy makers and a skeptical public, as the groundswell against tolling remains strong and lawmakers labor to save the rapidly diminishing Highway Trust Fund.

CHICAGO — Michigan officials are putting the final touches on a fiscal 2013 budget that will likely mark the state’s first contribution since the early 1990s to prefund its towering retiree health care liability.

Clark County, Nev.'s McCarran International Airport on Wednesday night received a downgrade from Moody’s Investors Service to A1 from Aa3 on about $3 billion of its $4.5 billion of debt just as it prepares to market $365 million in three series on May 30.

The California Assembly approved a bill on Monday aimed at expediting Los Angeles County transportation projects.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is adding parking to his efforts to create a legacy impact on transportation.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority’s rating to A from A-plus.

Ascension Parish, La., may ask voters in November to approve an increase in the parish sales tax to support $80 million of revenue bonds for road projects.

A takeover of bankrupt American Airlines by US Airways could bruise some airport credits, with the risks most acute for their hub facilities, Moody's Investors Service warned in a special commentary released Wednesday.

DALLAS — Austin taxpayers would be asked to back $275 million of general obligation bonds to get an urban rail system started under a proposal before the City Council.

At its meeting on Wednesday the board of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York approved approximately $3.9 billion in financings for higher education and health care institutions.

As Indiana spends down $3.8 billion generated by its 2006 lease of the Indiana Toll Road, the state has a series of new public-private partnerships in the pipeline that underscore its continued reliance on the technique to provide financing for transportation infrastructure projects.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority is expected to issue $141 million of revenue bonds on Wednesday to refund its Series 2004C-1 bonds.

CHICAGO — The Ohio Department of Transportation is taking bids from firms interested in advertising at its Interstate rest stops and welcome areas to help raise funds to whittle down a $1.6 billion budget hole that officials say will delay projects for years.