Economy

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's Board of Commissioners has approved a preliminary $7.1 billion combined operating and capital budget for fiscal 2012 amid complaints that the agency overspends on World Trade Center redevelopment at the expense of bridge, road and tunnel improvements.

Standard & Poor’s affirmed its BBB-plus credit rating and stable outlook for the not-for-profit ACTS Retirement-Life Communities of West Point, Pa.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York approved $531 million in financings for higher education and health care, including $340 million in 23-year, fixed or variable-rate tax-exempt bonds for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

A proposal to allow the New York Department of Health to replace hospitals' leadership would be a credit positive, Moody's Investors Service said.

The cancellation of a project to renovate the 70-year-old Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and a connecting portion of the Gowanus Expressway, both part of Interstate 278 in New York City, has prompted calls for a state law allowing public private partnerships.

Fairfield, Conn., opened its third train station, Fairfield Metro, to commuters last week.

The Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority last week hired an interim executive director who currently works for a consulting firm that has contracts with the agency.

The Inland Valley Development Agency in California disclosed that it and the San Bernardino International Airport Authority are being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Philadelphia plans a $235 million sale of revenue refunding bonds for Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday.

The privatization of the Ohio Turnpike would likely be a positive for debt holders, Moody’s Investors Service said in a market comment this week.

In response to Fitch Ratings’ revision of its outlook on O’Hare International Airport’s general airport revenue bonds to negative, Chicago aviation officials said they are confident the airport’s position as a key hub for bankrupt American Airlines will limit any service cuts as the carrier reorganizes.

LOS ANGELES — Downey Regional Medical Center, a non-profit hospital located in greater Los Angeles, is close to reaching an agreement with Avanti Health Systems LLC that would enable it to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy and make its bondholders whole.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Fitch Ratings on Friday revised the outlook to negative on three major U.S. airports in the wake of the Chapter 11 filing by American Airlines and its affiliate, American Eagle.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the rating of Turnersville-based Kennedy Memorial Hospital University Medical Center to A3 from A2. The outlook remains stable at the lower level, analysts said.

After its Board of Aldermen rejected a proposal for streetcar service, New Haven has resubmitted a plan that would replace its match with regional or state transportation funds.

SAN FRANCISCO — A Washington judge has dismissed a lawsuit that tried to void the state's $519 million bond deal for a floating bridge project.

Staff of the California Health Facilities Financing Authority recommended approving a plan to issue $275 million of bonds on behalf of San Diego-based Scripps Health.

Fitch Ratings assigned a AA-minus rating Wednesday to a planned $355 million bond issuance on behalf of Sacramento-based Sutter Health, which owns, leases and-or operates 31 hospitals.

The California Legislative Analyst's Office said in a report Tuesday that the funding for the first stage of the state's high-speed system is highly uncertain.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority's bond trustee, Bank of New York Mellon, has hired a financial advisor to assist with restructuring the Florida authority's defaulted bonds.