Economy

CHICAGO — The Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday granted Chicago's request to preserve its ability to pursue a privatization of Midway Airport under a federal pilot program until the end of the year.

Bond attorneys are studying a recent IRS ruling that allowed Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to issue $1 million of bonds that were not subject to the alternative minimum tax.

The Department of Transportation has received $10.2 billion in applications for the $500 million available through its latest round of TIGER funding, highlighting the pressing need for infrastructure investment, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Thursday.

WASHINGTON — The Maryland Transportation Authority will price more than $260 million of tax-exempt bonds to refund 2002 bonds and to finance a passenger walkway and tunnel for the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, according to bond documents released Tuesday.

Current record-high gas prices are not hurting the credit quality of state highway user tax bonds, according to Standard & Poor's.

Memphis-headquartered Pinnacle Airlines Corp. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Sunday.

A proposal to issue $325 million of revenue bonds to upgrade and repair state rural roads was approved by the Louisiana House Tuesday without a dissenting vote.

The Georgia Department of Transportation said Tuesday it and federal agencies have officially begun preparation of an environmental impact statement on the proposed multi-modal passenger terminal in Atlanta.

Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday placed the A3 rating on Tampa General Hospital’s debt on review for possible downgrade.

Standard & Poor's issued its first public rating of a public-private partnership in the United States, a BBB-minus for a project to build a tunnel under the Elizabeth River between Norfolk, Va., and Portsmouth.

A group of seven Illinois safety-net hospitals last week unveiled several measures they said could trim $1.4 billion from the state’s Medicaid expenses and eliminate the need for the deeper cuts that Gov. Pat Quinn has requested.

SAN FRANCISCO —The projected price tag for California's planned high-speed rail system between San Francisco and Los Angeles has been cut by a third.

Chicago has requested a federal extension until the end of the year to decide whether to attempt to privatize Midway Airport, a move that preserves the city's ability to resurrect a lease deal that could generate several billion dollars in up-front cash.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is scheduled to auction $400 million of its consolidated bonds on Wednesday.

CHICAGO — The Michigan Senate last week advanced a measure to divert a piece of the state's fuel sales tax to finance transportation infrastructure projects, part of an effort to raise more money for the depleted roads fund.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of state departments of transportation have banded together to urge the House Republican leadership to avoid including any language in a transportation bill that would remove "important optional financing tools" for some public-private partnerships.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has purchased 300 new rail cars for $600 million.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey voted Thursday to cut compensation and benefits for non-union employees, saving an estimated $41 million over the next 18 months.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey submitted a request to federal officials that its Bayonne Bridge "Raise the Roadway" project be considered for expedited review under President Obama's executive order on permitting and federal review.

WASHINGTON — Congress approved a 90-day extension of federal highway funding Thursday, capping a week filled with wild legislative twists and turns that led House Republican leaders to pull shorter-term bills from the floor three days in a row when it was clear they wouldn't be approved.