Economy

Colorado Republican lawmakers plan to introduce a bill to restore a funding formula benefitting transportation construction that was repealed under 2009 legislation.

Standard & Poor’s last Thursday lowered its long-term and underlying rating on two series of Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority bonds just two weeks after Fitch Ratings affirmed the agency’s ratings.

A peer review panel has recommended California hold off on borrowing billions of dollars for its estimated $98 billion high-speed passenger rail project.

A bipartisan House duo has introduced legislation that would authorize up to $50 billion of tax-credit bonds to be used over six years to finance transportation infrastructure projects, mirroring a bill pending in the Senate and garnering support from lobbyists even as some question whether such bonds could overcome expected hesitancy from investors.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will receive $186 million to continue construction on a high-speed rail line linking Chicago with St. Louis, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Wednesday.

Indiana lawmakers returned to work Wednesday for a short session that begins with controversial labor legislation but will also likely include bills advancing a $1.3 billion bond-funded mass transit plan and raising more revenue for cash-strapped local governments.

Kentucky and Indiana officials announced last week that they reached consensus on a basic plan to finance and build the $2.6 billion Ohio River Bridges Project.

Amid the biggest building binge in its history, the North Texas Tollway Authority ranked as the top debt issuer in the Southwest in 2011, with more than $2.1 billion sold, according to Thomson Reuters.

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Bellin Memorial Hospital one notch to A2 in recognition of its favorable operating performance.

Standard & Poor’s has raised the rating on the West Plains Industrial Development Authority’s revenue bonds issued for the Ozarks Medical Center to BB-minus, three notches below investment grade, from B-plus.

Children’s Memorial Hospital’s plans to build a heliport on the roof of its partially bond-financed hospital under construction in downtown Chicago is being challenged by a community group.

The North Texas Tollway Authority board has agreed to pay legal fees for board member David Denison, who is involved in an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The nation's largest nonprofit health care provider has extended its reach into the Chicago-area market with the acquisition of a suburban hospital chain.

The San Diego Association of Governments approved the $345 million purchase of a bankrupt toll road from a private operator at its Dec. 16 board meeting.

The rating on $481.6 million of general obligation bonds issued by Palomar Pomerado Health was dropped one notch to A-plus on Dec. 23.

Michigan-based Trinity Health, one of the nation's largest Catholic health care systems, will invest up to $150 million over the next five years as part of its acquisition of Mercy Health System if the deal is approved by an Illinois review board.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority to A3 from A2.

The Internal Revenue Service is auditing $800 million of hospital revenue bonds that were issued by the South Miami, Fla., Health Facilities Authority in May 2007 to finance projects for affiliates of Baptist Health South Florida and to refund previously issued bonds.

Transportation officials and lobbyists will be watching Capitol Hill early next year, hoping lawmakers pass long-term reauthorization legislation funding aviation and surface programs that would bring much-needed stability to the sectors.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded to A3 from A2 the Metrohealth System in Ohio and revised the outlook to negative from stable.