Economy

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority is seeking investment banking services, as the agency could refinance fixed-rate bonds associated with $800 million of floating-to-fixed-rate swaps.

CHICAGO — The Indiana Finance Authority today is expected to price $225 million of new-money revenue bonds on behalf of Sisters of St. Francis Health Services Inc.

DALLAS — Houston-based St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System is preparing a $385 million revenue bond refunding deal through the Harris County Cultural Education Facilities Finance Corp.

WASHINGTON — The Department of Transportation’s inspector general is warning that at least 10 airport improvement program grants distributed by the Federal Aviation Administration under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act “may have questionable economic merit or could involve recipients that have had grant management problems.”

CHICAGO — More than $1 billion of borrowing by health care facilities in Illinois is expected in the coming months in deals approved by the Illinois Finance Authority board amid improved market access for the sector.

Moody’s Investors Service last week revised the outlook on Loyola University of Chicago’s A3 credit to stable from negative because of strong operating performance and cash flow as well as operating improvement initiatives being undertaken by the university’s health system.

DALLAS — Denver-based Catholic Health Initiatives expects to sell up to $1.2 billion of revenue bonds with a variety of structures in a multi-state deal tomorrow and Thursday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The $1 billion Port of Miami Tunnel project Thursday reached financial closing — a conclusion that took nearly four years due to economic challenges, political problems, and diminished access to credit for large transportation-related public-private partnerships.

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is making a push to expand its presence in the nation’s health care sector by ramping up its long-standing FHA mortgage insurance program for hospitals.

The Federal Railroad Administration last week released an early draft of a national rail plan that includes alternative-financing strategies that could involve bonds.

Construction costs for an major part of the New Haven Rail Yard could come in lower than recent estimates, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell said last week. The lowest construction bid for a 293,000-square-foot maintenance facility to service newer Metro-North commuter trains came in at $124.8 million from O&G Industries of Torrington. The most recent estimate of the “change-out” where the trains will be maintained had been put at $291.5 million by a firm hired last year.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority plans tomorrow to sell its first Build America Bond deal, set for $213.8 million, after offering $39.3 million of traditional tax-exempt debt to retail investors today.

Las Vegas — Emerging slowly from the financial crisis, hard-hit nonprofit health care borrowers are gaining ground in market access and on credit spreads. However, they face tougher disclosure demands and must rethink strategies to lure investors going forward, especially given the looming uncertainties associated with national health care reform.

WASHINGTON — Rail advocates are urging the federal government to partner with states to develop a national high-speed rail network. The partnership should be modeled after the Interstate highway system, and Washington should share the costs of projects and create a dedicated funding source similar to the federal highway trust fund, they told members of the House Transportation rail subcommittee Wednesday afternoon.

Washington motorists appear willing to ante up to make up for budget cuts to state parks.

SAN FRANCISCO — The recent bankruptcies of two community hospitals in California show how difficult the current economic environment is for health care providers — and how much effort is required to actually bankrupt a hospital.

DALLAS — Regional transportation planners in the Phoenix area will take the first step toward a rail link to the western suburb of Glendale next week with the $878,000 study of the new route.

Standard & Poor’s yesterday dropped New Jersey’s largest health care provider, Saint Barnabas Health Care System to BB-plus from BBB-minus, affecting more than $800 million of outstanding debt. The outlook is negative.

CHICAGO — In a further reshuffling of Illinois’ finance team, debt manager Phil Culpepper will move over to the Illinois Housing Development Authority to the post of deputy executive director, while the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s chief financial officer, John Sinsheimer, has stepped into the newly created position of state director of capital markets.

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine at New York University is going to market next week with $369.6 million of tax-exempt bonds. The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York will offer the fixed-rate bonds to retail investors on Tuesday and to institutional investors on Wednesday.