Economy

DALLAS — Amid a $500 million remodeling project, Dallas Love Field Airport won a two notch upgrade from Standard & Poor’s Wednesday, rising to A with a stable outlook from BBB-plus.

The Kentucky Legislature is in overtime trying to come up with an agreement to plug a $176 million deficit in the state’s Medicaid program this year.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said Friday that there is little hope that Florida can come up with a plan to regain $2.4 billion in federal funds for a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando.

DALLAS — In what will likely be the largest deal in Texas so far this year, the North Texas Tollway Authority is preparing to issue $1.3 billion for the western extension of its President George Bush Turnpike.

CHICAGO — The bankrupt Fairview Obligated Group, operator of several Chicago-area continuing care retirement communities, will hold an auction next month on its Rockford campus as investors who hold $57 million of mostly tax-exempt debt await word on how much they stand to recoup.

LOS ANGELES — California’s Sierra Kings Healthcare District is nearing a deal that could lead to its exit from Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

CHICAGO — Dayton, Ohio-based MedAmerica Health Systems will begin taking retail orders Wednesday on $100 million of fixed-rate bonds followed by institutional sales Thursday.

A 12-member group of politicans and business leaders is asking Gov. John Kasich to reconsider his decision to abandon plans for high-speed rail in Ohio.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District in California remains on track to debut in the bond market this spring, but the limits of the sales tax it relies on for funding will limit the scope of the rail transit line it plans to build, its board of directors learned here last week at a workshop.

WASHINGTON — Maryland lawmakers are considering a 10-cent-per-gallon increase to the state’s 23.5-cent gas tax, but the government may not be able to use the potential revenue increase to back bonds for transportation projects because there is limited room under its debt cap.

New York State will sell $830 million of new-money and refunding general obligation bonds via competitive bid on Tuesday to help finance transportation and environmental infrastructure needs and generate debt service savings.

Roger Nutt, former head of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and other state transportation entities, will begin Monday as the chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.

A decrease in traffic on the Atlantic City Expressway prompted Moody’s Investors Service last week to downgrade nearly $500 million of South Jersey Transportation Authority revenue bonds to Baa1 from A3. The outlook is stable.

San Francisco’s unfunded pension and retiree health care liabilities have ballooned to around $6 billion, according to a report by a Stanford academic and former California assemblyman.

California Controller John Chiang Monday released an actuarial report saying the state faces a $59.9 billion bill to pay for health care and dental benefits for state retirees over the next 30 years.

The Georgia Department of Transportation announced Monday that it selected a development team that includes Atlanta-based Cousins Properties Inc. and Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. to negotiate a contract to become the master developer of a multi-modal passenger terminal in downtown Atlanta.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced Friday that he will not make a decision about moving forward with the $1.2 billion SunRail project until July despite the fact that the project had been approved by the Legislature.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., on Tuesday unveiled legislation for a national infrastructure bank that could finance up to $10 billion of projects in each of its first two years.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich reportedly said last week he does not support giving Cincinnati $50 million for a long-planned $150 million streetcar project.

CHICAGO — In a deal brokered by federal authorities, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and officials from American Airlines and United Airlines announced an agreement Monday that allows the city to begin work on $1.17 billion worth of a remaining $3.36 billion of expansion projects at O’Hare International Airport.