Economy

SAN FRANCISCO — A state Superior Court judge this week handed down what appears to be a new roadblock to California’s bond-financed high-speed passenger rail project.

DALLAS — Louisiana’s top highway official told lawmakers on Wednesday that soon there will be no money available for new highway projects unless additional funding sources are provided.

WASHINGTON - At least 11 states have submitted requests for the first portion of $8 billion of federal high-speed rail stimulus funds. California, Florida, Michigan, New York, and Texas alone requested more than $4.5 billion for planning, engineering, and early construction of high-speed rail projects.

The municipal market was slightly firmer yesterday, as the Dallas County Hospital District came to market with close to $700 million of taxable Build America Bonds.In the new-issue market, Merrill Lynch & Co. priced $680.2 million of taxable BABs for the district in two series. Bonds from the $217.5 million series mature from 2020 through 2025, with a term bond in 2034. Yields range from 4.95% in 2020, or 3.22% after the 35% federal subsidy, to 6.17% in 2034, or 4.01% after the subsidy.

WASHINGTON - The Charleston Area Medical Center, West Virginia's largest medical provider, today will issue $178 million of revenue bonds after the center received a negative outlook from Moody's Investors Service.

The Wisconsin Health and Educational Facilities Authority on Monday signed off on Aurora Health Care’s sale of $160 million of new-money and current refunding bonds set for this week.

The New Jersey Turnpike Authority yesterday approved refunding up to $900 million of outstanding debt to generate savings for the agency.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced Monday that Michigan has applied for $830 million in federal stimulus funds as the first step in setting up high-speed rail across the state.

SAN FRANCISCO - Supporters of a planned Alaska toll bridge to be funded through a public-private partnership appear to have won a round this summer in legal maneuvering over the project's future, though major financing hurdles remain to be crossed.

DALLAS - Dallas County plans to take a giant step toward rebuilding the landmark Parkland Hospital this week with a $705 million issue made up mostly of taxable Build America Bonds.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's bond ratings may be too high, according to a report released by Bank of America-Merrill Lynch yesterday.

SAN FRANCISCO - Lancaster Pollard & Co., a boutique health care and housing investment bank, last week hired Anthony Taddey to head a new Los Angeles office.

CHICAGO - St. Louis' Metro has settled on restructuring plans for two pieces of its debt as the transit agency seeks to chip away at a series of operational and capital challenges that prompted a two-notch downgrade earlier this year and drove steep service cuts.

DALLAS - The North Texas Tollway Authority expects to issue $620 million of toll revenue bonds and $740 million in other forms of debt to design and build a new toll highway in western Dallas County, officials said.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Louisiana State Bond Commission yesterday approved a $350 million revenue bond deal for the Woman's Hospital Foundation Project, of which $100 million will be Gulf Opportunity Zone bonds.

WASHINGTON — Arlington County, Va., is suing state and U.S. transportation officials to stop a high-occupancy toll lanes project on Interstate 395 and I-95, alleging an "arbitrary and capricious" failure to do adequate research on environmental and other impacts.

Bills recently introduced by key members in the House and Senate would set up a major deterrent to banks and other equity investors seeking to force issuers to fork over termination payments for lease-back deals. The prospect of such deal terminations threatened to jeopardize the fiscal conditions of transit agencies and electrical utilities last year after credit rating downgradings of insurers on the deals.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is no longer on watch list for a possible downgrade of its transportation revenue bonds, Moody's Investors Service said yesterday. The rating agency affirmed the credit's A2 rating and said its outlook was stable.

CHICAGO - In a larger version of its spring general obligation sale, Wisconsin is planning to competitively sell $423 million of new-money GO bonds on Wednesday in a deal divided into two series with bidders able to submit tax-exempt and taxable bids on the later maturities.

DALLAS - The Texas Transportation Commission will issue the state's largest tranche of Build America Bonds to date, with $1.1 billion of the taxable debt scheduled to price on Wednesday.