Economy

WASHINGTON — Senate transportation leaders are in a standoff with their House counterparts over a six-month extension of the current transportation law, as states are experiencing a 30% reduction in their federal highway and bridge funding.

CHICAGO — The Chicago City Council yesterday approved up to $2.85 billion of general obligation and airport bonds slated for sale in early 2010 and signed off on a settlement with a neighboring suburb that ends its litigation against the $8 billion expansion of O’Hare International Airport.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposed a balanced operating budget for 2010 yesterday but set aside additional reserves in case its assumptions prove overly optimistic.

SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland, California’s eighth-most populous city, may have to sell its convention center or securitize its parking revenues to close a projected $44.3 million general fund deficit over the next two years.

WASHINGTON — The Montgomery County Council in Maryland Tuesday unanimously voted against proposed toll rate hikes for the InterCounty Connector, the $2.4 billion toll road currently under construction, and also cut $30 million from the county’s fiscal 2010 budget.

DALLAS — A commission tasked with making Louisiana government more efficient voted Tuesday to seek another study on the state’s plans to build a $1.2 billion academic medical center in New Orleans.

The Atlanta City Council on Monday unanimously approved a new lease with Delta Air Lines at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are pushing for a second economic stimulus bill, and transportation advocates hope it will contain funding for infrastructure without further delaying a multi-year surface transportation reauthorization bill.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Cullman County, Ala., Health Care Authority tomorrow plans to issue $75 million of fixed-rate revenue refunding bonds and pay a swap termination fee to restructure its debt portfolio.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its A2 rating on Southwest General Health Center, located in the Cleveland suburb of Middleburg Heights, and revised its outlook to stable from negative after the center reported three years of improved operating results.

In the latest episode in the years-long effort to build a $425 million medical mart in Cleveland, the firm that plans to build the center has proposed a new downtown location, a move that “stunned” local politicians, according to reports.

Chicago and Bensenville on Monday announced a $16 million settlement that ends opposition to the city’s $8 billion expansion of O’Hare International Airport.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking to boost its bond issuance for fiscal 2009 by $200 million, with its next sale set for early to mid-December.

State, regional, and local transportation toll authorities will steadily issue debt as the economy recovers in order to pay for infrastructure maintenance and construction projects that cannot be funded from state and federal coffers, Moody’s Investors Service predicted in a report issued late last week.

CHICAGO — William Beaumont Hospital, one of Michigan’s largest health care systems, plans to enter the market next week with $273 million of fixed-rate new-money and refunding bonds that will continue the system’s efforts to reduce its floating-rate risks.

The New Hampshire Turnpike System this week will come to market with its first new-money issuance in 10 years with a $218.1 million revenue bond transaction that includes taxable Build America Bonds.

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas and New York Gov. David Paterson last week announced that officials will replace the Lake Champlain Bridge after engineers said the 80-year-old span can’t be rehabilitated.

The Port of Seattle’s commissioners Tuesday agreed to move forward with a solicitation for financial advisory services.

CHICAGO — An already cash-strapped Illinois would subsidize debt service payments on $166 million of borrowing by the state’s Regional Transportation Authority under a plan announced by Gov. Pat Quinn yesterday to stave off fare hikes proposed by the Chicago Transit Authority.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Stressed community development districts in Florida this month have told bondholders that they continue to rely on reserves to make debt ­payments. Some have filed notices of default and analysts expect their number to increase.