Economy

A group of senators led by Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., were poised late yesterday to introduce legislation that would provide public transit systems across the country with $2 billion of emergency operating funds to help ease the strain on their budgets.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Murphy ­McCalley has joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch as a director in its transportation group, the firm announced Friday.

The Denver Health and Hospital Authority will use $29 million of health care recovery zone revenue bonds to build a 78,500-square-foot pavilion for adolescent psychology, outpatient operating rooms, a procedure center, and parking.

CHICAGO — With Illinois behind a record $290 million in payments to the Regional Transportation Authority, the agency is awaiting Gov. Pat Quinn’s signature on a bill that would allow it to issue an additional $140 million of taxable cash-flow notes to keep Chicago-area trains and buses running.

Eleven Northeast states are asking the Federal Railroad Administration to cover $15 million of an $18.8 million study they hope will help improve and expand high-speed rail service in their corridor.

New Jersey legislators last week passed a resolution that urges the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to develop funding and engineering solutions to increase the Bayonne Bridge’s air clearance and accommodate larger vessels.

WASHINGTON — Congressional committees have set a July 4 target date for the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill to be signed into law, but lawmakers must clear a few obstacles including their differences over a bond-related provision before the legislation can be finalized.

DALLAS — The Louisiana State Bond Commission gave its approval yesterday to refunding and restructuring $300 million of fuel-tax bonds issued in May 2009 to finance a portion of a constitutionally mandated transportation program.

Moody’s Investors Service raised the debt rating of Hawaii Pacific Health to A3 from Baa1, citing four years of improved operating performance and a greatly simplified debt structure.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded its underlying rating for the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency’s toll revenue bonds to BBB-minus from BBB.

CHICAGO — The Michigan House is expected to vote Tuesday on a bill that would advance a controversial $2 billion bond-funded bridge spanning the busy Detroit-Canada trade route.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Miami-Dade County commissioners on Tuesday said they stand ready to take over the Jackson Health System should the current board overseeing South Florida’s largest public hospital fail to rectify the financial crisis it now faces.

The Atlanta BeltLine project last week was selected as the Best 2009 Bond Deal at the Council of Development Finance Agencies’ 2010 Annual Development Finance Summit in Portland, Ore.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum Friday amended the federal lawsuit he filed challenging the constitutionality of the new health care law to add seven new states, including Georgia and Mississippi, the National Federation of Independent Business, and two individuals.

The Cincinnati City Council last week passed a measure to issue up to $64 million in bonds to advance a long-planned $128 million project to build a streetcar.

Chicago is advancing measures to help finance the next phase of its $8 billion runway expansion at O’Hare International Airport.

Transportation stakeholders are opposed to a provision in a draft climate-change bill introduced in the Senate that would generate more revenue based on emissions from the sector than would be re-invested in infrastructure or transportation projects.

DALLAS — Denver’s latest plan to build a long-delayed hotel at Denver International Airport would use revenue bonds to finance construction of the facility atop a planned commuter rail line at the south end of the landmark Jeppesen Terminal.

ALAMEDA, Calif. — California’s Bay Area Toll Authority will hit the market next month with a hefty Build America Bond deal.

BRADENTON, Fla. — After years of study and indecision, Hillsborough County, Fla., officials have agreed to place on November’s ballot a proposal to increase the sales tax by 1% to fund long-term mass transit projects, including light rail.