Economy

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will now look for a new general manager after Daniel Grabauskas Friday stepped down from the post under pressure from the Gov. Deval Patrick administration.

Moody’s Investors Service this week downgraded the Sierra Kings Hospital District’s general obligation bonds to Baa3 from Baa1 ahead of a planned $4 million sale of GO bonds.

Bonds sold in 1996 to help finance an assisted-living facility in Cherry Hill, N.J., are in default after U.S. Bank NA, the trustee for the debt, dipped into reserve funds to meet July 1 interest and principal payments owed to investors.

Moody’s Investors Service Tuesday downgraded the New Orleans Port Board of Commissioners revenue bonds to Baa1 from A2.

DALLAS - The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is accelerating plans for the $623 million U.S. 290 tollway near Austin to take advantage of federal stimulus funds, officials said.

DALLAS - The University of Arkansas in Little Rock will ask the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees next month for a $31.6 million bond issue to build a new nanotechnology center and other facilities on the Little Rock campus.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, accompanied by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Tuesday made one of several stops in the Bluegrass State to ceremonially signing new legislation clearing the way for the two states to finance the $4.1 billion Louisville-Southern Indiana Ohio River Bridges Project.

CHICAGO - Indiana's Parkview Health System will enter the market over the next few weeks with $480 million of fixed- and variable-rate debt that will be used to refinance outstanding auction-rate debt and bank-held variable-rate bonds and to raise new money.

The West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency voted last Friday to eliminate subsidized retirement health care for new hires in an effort to cut the state’s other post-employment benefits liability.

Private-sector infrastructure executives in the U.S. are concerned that current investment in infrastructure is inadequate to create long-term economic growth, and that government ineffectiveness and poor economic conditions are more of a barrier to projects than the lack of available financing.

DALLAS - The North Texas Tollway Authority yesterday increased the size of its commercial paper refinancing and sold $1.4 billion in bonds, including $825 million of taxable Build America Bonds.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority should create a separate fund for debt service and institute a rolling five-year capital plan, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a campaign event yesterday.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Mississippi Department of Transportation has once again delayed the receipt of proposals for its first public-private partnership toll road project.

Texas Department of Transportation officials said last week the state will spend a record $5.9 billion on road projects in fiscal 2010, followed by another $5 billion in fiscal 2011.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will use federal stimulus funds to replace 63 of the 6,773 obsolete bridges in the state. Another 53 structures will be renovated with the funding.

CHICAGO - Wayne County, Mich., officials said they plan to issue up to $500 million in taxable bonds in fiscal 2010 to cover about half of its roughly $888 million unfunded liability for its accrued retiree health-care costs.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority today will launch the sale of as much as $853 million of bonds - including about $360 million of taxable Build America Bonds - to fund construction of a new Metrorail line that will connect riders with the Dulles International Airport.

WASHINGTON - President Obama is expected to soon sign a bill to provide the federal highway trust fund with $7 billion of extra cash, which would keep money flowing to states for transportation projects while lawmakers settle their dispute over an 18-month extension to the current law that expires Sept. 30.

CHICAGO - The University of Chicago Medical Center on Tuesday will sell the first tranche of a $225 million issue to begin a $500 million borrowing that will help fund a $700 million, 10-story, 240-bed hospital pavilion.

DALLAS — Two large deals that include Build America Bonds are coming to market this week in Texas.