Economy

WASHINGTON - Fitch Ratings says the United States is downshifting just as President Obama is expected to include transportation spending as a major part of the job creation program he will present to Congress Thursday night.

CHICAGO - The Ohio State University board this week will consider a proposal to privatize its parking system for an upfront payment from a private operator.

BRADENTON, Fla. - With a deal uniquely structured to meet investors' demands, a Florida conduit issuer has sold one of the largest tax-exempt bond financings to date for an airport fixed-base operator.

The Internal Revenue Service has completed an audit of $60 million of hospital revenue bonds issued in 2002 by Lakeland, Fla., finding no change to the bonds’ tax-exempt status.

Pennsylvania's beleaguered capital received some positive news when the Harrisburg Parking Authority agreed to help the struggling city make general obligation payments due next week with a loan package.

DALLAS - No revenue bond debt will be required to build a new $1 billion state teaching hospital in New Orleans under a revised business plan being considered Thursday by the University Medical Center Management Corp.

Moody’s Investors Service last Thursday downgraded the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority’s revenue bonds to A1 from Aa3. The move affects $692.4 million of outstanding debt. The outlook is stable. The HCAA oversees Tampa International Airport on Florida’s west-central coast.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded to BB-plus from BBB its rating on $80 million of facilities revenue bonds issued for Mercy Medical Center, a 337-bed teaching hospital in Canton.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority bondholders, in limbo since a majority of authority board members resigned and having seen a payment default July 1, may see some relief soon.

San Antonio’s hopes to build a streetcar line that could lead to more rail projects suffered a setback after two leaders of an advisory commission resigned recently.

Gov. Mike Beebe has set Nov. 8 as the election date for a constitutional amendment that would continue Arkansas’ Garvee program.

LOS ANGELES - Downey Regional Medical Center, a not-for-profit hospital located in greater Los Angeles, will emerge from bankruptcy in mid-November, allowing it to close on a planned bond refunding if a bankruptcy judge approves its exit plan.

The New York State Thruway Authority and the State of New York Mortgage Agency are scheduled to hold bond sales on Thursday totaling $500 million, with each following a Wednesday retail order period.

LOS ANGELES - The San Diego Association of Governments is leaning away from issuing bonds to fund the $345 million purchase of a toll road from a private operator.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors will vote on Sept. 29 whether to issue $250 million in bonds.

Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the long-term underlying rating on the Sacramento Transportation Authority’s variable-rate revenue bonds from to Aa3 from Aa2.

BRADENTON, Fla. - A federal bankruptcy judge in Tampa on Monday issued a final ruling in a developer's Chapter 11 filing that could have a chilling effect on owners of Florida community development district bonds, observers said.

President Obama Wednesday, eager to prevent another political showdown over expiring legislation, called on Congress to quickly renew the surface transportation law that expires at the end of September.

Georgia Department of Transportation chief engineer Gerald Ross will become the director of the state’s public-private partnership program. A 29-year veteran of GDOT, he replaces Sandra Burgess, who is retiring this week.

The termination of NASA’s space shuttle program, primarily located at the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida, is a credit negative for Brevard County and surrounding areas, Moody’s Investors Service said in Monday’s Weekly Credit Outlook.