Economy

BOSTON – U.S. governors this weekend called for greater fiscal discipline in their states to calm bond market fears over their debts, but they offered little consensus on efforts to extend certain federal government stimulus programs, specifically Build America Bonds.

WASHINGTON — The Maryland Transportation Authority this week expects to price $299 million of revenue bonds for construction projects, the bulk of which will finance continuing construction of the InterCounty Connector.

CHICAGO — The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission will enter the market later this month with a nearly $150 million mostly new-money sale of senior-lien revenue bonds as it seeks to take advantage of the federal alternative minimum tax holiday.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Transit Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation Thursday announced $300 million in competitive grants for cities and local agencies to pay for 53 transit proposals including bus, streetcar and trolley projects.

Holders of first-tier debt issued for the Las Vegas Monorail have nothing to show for their most recent scheduled interest payment.

Investors and the state of South Carolina are haggling over who will get a bigger share of revenue from a bankrupt bond-funded toll road.

DALLAS — The Port of Seattle will upgrade equipment at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and refinance several series of outstanding debt with proceeds from next week’s negotiated sale of $394.6 million of intermediate-line revenue bonds.

A public-private partnership of the Greater Birmingham Regional Planning Commission, the Georgia Department of Transportation, and Norfolk-Southern railroad will study the feasibility of a high-speed rail connection between Birmingham and Atlanta.

DALLAS — The Texas Transportation Commission is preparing a record $1.5 billion bond issue under the voter-approved program known as Proposition 14 that dedicates fuel taxes and vehicle fees toward highway construction.

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch last week signed a $3.62 billion 10-year transportation plan into law.

CHICAGO — The Minnesota Nurses Association and 14 hospitals in the Twin Cities area reached an agreement late last week on a new contract, averting a threatened strike by 12,000 nurses that was set to start this week.

Bexar County commissioners will be asked to move up the sale of the fourth and final tranche of debt to finance Bexar County Hospital District’s ongoing expansion project of its facilities in San Antonio.

Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson joined other governors last week in support of a proposal to continue a $25 billion program of emergency federal aid to state Medicaid programs.

WASHINGTON — Airports would receive steady funding until August, and the federal government would reclaim $17.4 million of unused transit funding this fiscal year, if two separate bills approved this week by the Senate and a House committee become law.

WASHINGTON — The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s outlook was revised to negative by Moody’s Investors Service on Wednesday, ahead of a $350 million revenue bond transaction it has scheduled for later this month.

Moody’s Investors Service Wednesday downgraded $2.68 billion of subordinate Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission bonds to A3 from A2 and assigned a negative outlook to the credit.

Congress’ failure to pass a six-month extension of enhanced federal matching funds under the Federal Medicaid ­Assistance Program will deprive states of billions of dollars in expected revenue, lead to drastic cuts in programs and result in the loss of thousands of jobs, 13 governors warned Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — About 30 states must revisit their fiscal 2011 budgets to compensate for the loss of expected enhanced federal matching Medicaid funds that were in a jobs bill Congress failed to approve last week.

The House yesterday unanimously approved legislation that would extend airport funding for one month and give airports the ability to collect passenger facilities charges, which they often use to repay bonds.

Flint’s McLaren Health System Corp. is hoping to move its Pontiac-based hospital to a medical park in nearby Clarkston, according to a report in Crain’s Detroit Business.