Economy

WASHINGTON — States officials are eyeing $2.4 billion of federal high-speed rail money that was allocated for Florida, but is now up for grabs after Gov. Rick Scott effectively ended the state’s project by rejecting the funding earlier this month.

Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell said last week that voters will be asked in November 2012 to decide on a bond package that would fund an urban rail system, roads, bike paths, parks, and libraries.

DALLAS — A new section of the 180-mile, $6 billion toll road that loops around the outer Houston metro area known as the Grand Parkway could break ground this fall after winning approval from the Texas Transportation Commission.

After meeting with Florida Gov. Rick Scott on Friday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave the state another week to decide once and for all if it wants $2.4 billion in federal funds to build a high-speed rail network.

Arkansas voters would be asked to decide on $2.8 billion of state bonds for highway projects under a proposal to be introduced next week by House Speaker Robert Moore Jr.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Rick Scott Thursday told four local governments that he would not change his mind about accepting $2.4 billion of federal funds for a high-speed rail project.

The financially ailing Jackson Health System in South Florida could become the latest public nonprofit entity to be taken private despite an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry believed to be related to bond disclosure issues.

TRENTON — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday released a $29.4 billion spending proposal for fiscal 2012 that includes property-tax relief — if the Legislature passes health-care reform legislation.

SAN FRANCISCO — A Superior Court judge in California has denied a lawsuit brought by a public employees' union that sought to block a plan for a public-private partnership to rebuild a road linking San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

WASHINGTON — Supporters of the Florida high-speed rail project are scrambling to come up with options to preserve it after Gov. Rick Scott rejected $2.4 billion of federal funding last week.

Moody's Investors Service dropped its rating to Ba3 from Ba1 on Garden City Hospital's long-term debt and said it will maintain its negative outlook even at the lower rating level.

A hearing has been pushed back a week to March 1 on Chicago's motion asking a Cook County Circuit Court judge to dismiss a suit challenging the city's authority to proceed with $3.36 billion worth of expansion projects at O'Hare International Airport without airline approval.

DALLAS — As Texas urban transit authorities continue to expand light-rail lines to ease congestion, they are also investing heavily in their workhorse buses, combining local and federal funds to develop cleaner, more efficient systems.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service chief counsel’s office has issued guidance that sides with a conduit issuer in Montana and a retirement home operator in a four-year old dispute over whether some of the authority’s bonds are taxable.

Bills to appropriate $150 million from the Alaska general fund for the Knik Arm Crossing bridge project advanced from a Senate committee this week.

DALLAS — The North Texas Tollway Authority’s decision in 2007 to pay $3.2 billion for the right to build the Sam Rayburn Tollway was a mistake that has limited its ability to take on new projects, according to NTTA chairman Victor ­Vandergriff.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Florida Gov. Rick Scott Wednesday rejected $2.4 billion in federal funding toward the state’s $2.6 billion high-speed rail project from Orlando to Tampa before reviewing the most recent ridership and revenue study.

House members have proposed almost 600 amendments be added to the continuing resolution needed to keep the federal government operating for the remainder of fiscal 2011, including additional spending cuts that could jeopardize the Los Angeles County Metro extension and other transportation projects.

No major funds are included in the Obama administration’s fiscal 2012 budget for deepening the harbor at the Port of Savannah.

Strong sales activity by education, electric power, and transportation issuers overcame 2010’s slump in health-care related debt to help bring total 2010 volume to a record $433.3 billion. All 10 bond sectors benefited from the availability of Build America Bonds and other stimulus debt efforts, which accounted for significant portions of the debt issued by each sector in 2010.