Economy

Innovative financing tools for transportation projects — including an array of different types of bonds — should be expanded and grouped into a centralized department at the federal level, state and local officials told House panel members yesterday.

New Jersey Transit yesterday approved a system-wide fare increase of 22% to generate $126.6 million of new revenue and help close the agency’s estimated $300 million fiscal 2011 deficit.

Gov. Sonny Perdue Tuesday announced that he appointed a special attorney general, who will work for free, to direct Georgia’s participation in challenging the federal health care legislation recently passed by Congress.

WASHINGTON — Amtrak wants to become a major player in creating a national high-speed rail network, as states continue to jockey for funding from the federal government and potentially offer up their own bonds to help cover construction costs.

CHICAGO — While the market’s attention is focused on Chicago’s sale of more than $1 billion of new-money and refunding debt for O’Hare International Airport this week, the city is also preparing to refund and reoffer pieces of its Midway Airport debt it had hoped to retire with its now-stalled plan to privatize the facility.

Catholic Healthcare Partners of Ohio, one of the country's largest nonprofit health-care systems, on Wednesday will begin selling $450 million of fixed-rate debt, followed by $230 million of variable-rate debt early next month.

A U.S. district court judge last week dismissed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that contested its right to collect toll revenues that secure more than $900 million of MWAA's outstanding bonds. The bond proceeds are helping to finance the system's expansion of rail service to Washington Dulles International Airport.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week approved a five-year, $3.8 billion capital spending plan that includes $800 million of bonds to support mass transit infrastructure improvements in the greater Boston area.

Ohio next week will price $170 million of taxable Build America Bonds that feature the state's highest credit rating to finance improvement projects.

WASHINGTON — A coalition of 27 transportation, labor, and other groups are urging lawmakers drafting climate and energy legislation that could impose a carbon tax on gasoline to ensure any resulting tax revenue would be funneled into the highway trust fund instead of other programs.

CHICAGO — Nonprofit hospitals have suffered a nearly 22% drop in pension plan median funding levels since 2007, a situation that could put further strain on the balance sheet of struggling facilities, according to a new report on pension challenges facing the sector by Standard & Poor's.

Plans to build a state hospital in midtown New Orleans with revenue bonds can go forward following a ruling by a U.S. district judge last week that the planning process complied with federal law.

The Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority meets today to continue working on a $4.1 billion plan of finance to build two new bridges across the Ohio River between the two states, and to reconfigure a major intersection in Louisville. The bi-state agency's agenda will include discussion about the selection of an advisory team.

CHICAGO — Federal officials yesterday announced $410 million in new funding to help support Chicago’s $8 billion runway expansion project at O’Hare International Airport, an award that comes one week ahead of the city’s sale of more than $1.1 billion of new-money and refunding O’Hare debt.

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell yesterday called for a special legislative session to find $472.5 million for fiscal 2011 transportation needs as the Federal Highway Administration denied, for the second time, the state’s request to implement tolls on Interstate 80.

CHICAGO — Henry Ford Health System could spend up to $1 billion in a massive expansion plan that would include a $500 million investment in its flagship Detroit facility, the provider said this week.

Americans, even in rural areas, overwhelmingly favor expanding public transportation such as rail or bus transit rather than highway construction, which traditionally has received much more funding, according to a recent national poll.

Moody’s Investors Service stripped Proctor Hospital of its investment grade rating recently, lowering the credit to Ba1 from Baa3 and warning of further action by assigning a negative outlook due to a decline in operating performance since fiscal 2007.

SAN FRANCISCO — Caltrain, the commuter rail line that connects San Francisco to San Jose, is facing a fiscal crisis that could force it to cut half its service next year.

The Kansas Senate Transportation Committee has approved a proposed $8.2 billion, 10-year transportation program that includes $1.7 billion of bonding capacity for highways, rail, aviation, and mass transit efforts.