Economy

Standard & Poor’s upgraded the Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center to A-plus due to its strong balance sheet.

Fitch Ratings stripped Bethesda Home and Retirement Center of its investment-grade rating, lowering the credit to BB-plus from BBB-minus due to its deteriorating balance sheet in 2008 and 2009. The action affects $2.6 million of bonds issued through the former Illinois Health Facilities Authority. The outlook was revised to stable from negative.

CHICAGO — As nonprofit hospitals in the Twin Cities brace for a threatened nurses’ strike, Moody’s Investors Service warned yesterday that a prolonged walkout could pressure some hospital ratings if already-thin operating margins are hurt by increased costs for temporary nurses and a drop in patient revenue.

New York State will pick up the debt-service tab for North General Hospital, which plans to file for bankruptcy, officials said Monday.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — The public health care district in Marin County, Calif., regains control of the county’s largest hospital today, in a shift that is likely to presage a bond offering in coming years.

The Austin City Council voted last week to spend $100,000 to study how to finance an urban rail system that is expected to cost $1.3 billion.

Deb Miller, secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation, last week said the federal stimulus program has created more than 3,300 transportation-related jobs in the state along with a total monthly payroll of some $4.4 million.

An interim draft report from a special committee looking at Arkansas highway financing includes an option for a 10-year, 0.5% sales tax that would back a bond program.

SAN FRANCISCO — If there are any solutions to the nation's persistent shortfalls in financing transportation infrastructure, they're more likely to come from the local level, according to members of an expert panel Friday.

Last year, Congress created the Build America Bonds program to spur infrastructure investment in our communities and to help thaw the frozen credit markets. We believe this program has been a great success and it should be made permanent, as currently considered by Congress, for the following reasons.

DALLAS — Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport expects its annual debt service cost to double over the next decade as it embarks on a $2 billion renovation of its original four terminals built in 1974.

WASHINGTON — The Connector 2000 Association Inc., the troubled South Carolina toll road that went into default on Jan. 1, filed for bankruptcy on Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Officials at two nonprofit hospitals have warned the Internal Revenue Service that new requirements imposed on bond-financed and 501(c)(3) hospitals by this year’s health care insurance overhaul would be burdensome and costly.

CHICAGO — The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois board yesterday approved a $140 million taxable working cash-flow note issue that will help the agency keep Chicago-area buses and trains in service as it awaits its overdue state aid.

DALLAS — The Comanche County Hospital District has lost its investment-grade rating from Standard & Poor’s as the rural health care facility in West Texas copes with a declining population and weak economy.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Officials in the Los Angeles area say momentum is building behind a plan to accelerate construction of multiple transit projects — a plan that would require as-yet-uncreated forms of federal financial support.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System announced the acquisition of a 12.7% stake in London Gatwick Airport from Global Infrastructure Partners. The pension fund has committed up to $155 million for the purchase.

DALLAS — Voters in Texas' capital city could decide in November on an $84.8 million general obligation bond package for transportation projects if the Austin City Council adopts the program and schedule proposed by city manager Marc Ott.

WASHINGTON — At least $300 million in funding to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for its 2011 fiscal year budget is at risk over a dispute between Northern Virginia municipalities and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell over his request to appoint half of Virginia's share of the WMATA board of directors.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York gave final and preliminary approval to six bond transactions totaling more than $245 million at its monthly board meeting Wednesday.