Economy

The West Virginia Legislature is considering a plan to ask voters to approve $1 billion of bonds for state road projects, according to the Charleston Daily Mail.

The Virginia Department of Transportation and the office of transportation public-private partnerships have released a request for information to develop a procurement strategy for the state’s five transportation operations centers.

A Louisiana panel studying the tolls on twin state-toll bridges across the Mississippi River in New Orleans has cautioned against removing the fees.

Citing three years of declining passenger counts, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Albuquerque International Sunport's senior debt to A1 from Aa3 and returned the outlook to stable from negative.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York on Wednesday is scheduled to refund $122 million of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center fixed-rate, tax-exempt revenue bonds, 2003 Series 1.

The Ohio Department of Transportation warned it was going to have to slice its budget and delay some projects by up to 20 years due to insufficient funds.

Minnesota’s not-for-profit hospitals provided 27% more charity care in 2010 than in 2009, according to the community benefits report released last week by the Minnesota Hospital Association.

Moody’s Investors Service last week upgraded to Baa2 from Baa3 its rating on Ball Memorial Hospital, affecting $101 million of bonds.

The House on Tuesday approved a 23d short-term extension to fund the Federal Aviation Administration for another three weeks, the first step in averting a shutdown and giving lawmakers time to craft a long-awaited multi-year reauthorization bill.

CHICAGO — Fitch Ratings hit St. Louis' public transit agency with a downgrade late last week as it continues to work on details of a debt restructuring and reduction plan planned for next year that would bolster its long-term fiscal health.

The New York City metropolitan region stands to lose billion of dollars through delays in infrastructure projects, the new executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Monday.

WASHINGTON — The acquisition of American Airlines by either of two competitors could result in a negative outlook for small to medium-sized airports, Moody's Investors Service said Monday.

WASHINGTON — A divisive labor issue that had stalled negotiations on a Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill has been resolved, and there is now a real possibility that the long-awaited legislation could land on the president's desk before the Jan. 31 deadline.

WASHINGTON — Moody's Investor’s Service is keeping its negative outlook on U.S. toll roads because of rising fuel prices, political hesitancy to increase toll rates, and a sluggish economy.

Facing a federal investigation of past practices, the North Texas Tollway Authority has adopted a new ethics policy that requires extensive disclosure and tighter strictures on conflicts of interest.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the troubled Southern California Logistics Airport Authority’s subordinate tax-allocation revenue bonds to B3 from B1.

CHICAGO – Even with added revenue from last year's income tax hike, Illinois entered the new year with an estimated $8.5 billion in unpaid bills and pending Medicaid vouchers, employee health insurance payments, and other obligations.

CHICAGO — After more than a year of waiting out the market, Wisconsin's largest health care provider, Aurora Health Care Inc., this week will complete refunding plans put on hold amid rising rates in 2010 with the sale of nearly $400 million of fixed-and floating-rate bonds.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority in north Florida cancelled its meeting set for Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — A key Virginia lawmaker is sponsoring legislation that would raise nearly $1 billion annually for infrastructure through gas and sales taxes, after warning of a severe budget shortfall for road maintenance near the nation's capital and complaining the governor's transportation plan is only "a drop in the bucket,"