Economy

WASHINGTON - House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., yesterday introduced a bill that would provide $5 billion to the highway trust fund so that it stays solvent through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Abuse of authority and an apparently unauthorized accounting practice resulted in a financial deficit at the Georgia Department of Transportation that violated the state's constitution, according to investigations released late Monday by the state's auditor and inspector general.

Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Riverside Health System’s credit one notch to A2 due to a track record of strong operating performance as RHS prepares to issue $68 million of fixed-rate new-money and refunding bonds early next month.

CHICAGO - Cleveland's University Hospitals Health System today will take retail orders on $101 million of fixed-rate and variable-rate revenue bonds to raise funds for its $1 billion capital improvement plan and to refinance some outstanding debt.

The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority yesterday approved $1.6 billion of borrowing for capital projects, including a $150 million variable-rate transaction that will help address existing swap agreements.

SAN FRANCISCO - Wells Fargo Securities announced that it has hired David Bloom to be its western region managing director covering health care for public finance investment banking.

The Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority last week approved the sale of $152 million of taxable Build America Bonds for state road and bridge projects.

WASHINGTON — Key lawmakers yesterday urged the revenue panel of the House Ways and Means Committee to immediately approve a short-term legislative fix for the expected shortfall in the highway trust fund, and in the long run to move toward a vehicle mileage tax to pay for transportation.

CHICAGO — The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission is gearing up to enter the market in mid-September with a $600 million Garvee sale to fund projects under the state’s Safe and Sound Bridge program that includes the upgrading or reconstruction of 802 bridges statewide.

Nevada’s two biggest airports got bad ratings news this week.

DALLAS - A new report from a Louisiana public affairs group warns that significant revenue sources dedicated to road construction and maintenance must be found to avoid long-term deterioration of the existing highway system in the state.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines, which is leading a $519 million bond-funded redevelopment of its home airport Dallas Love Field, saw its senior unsecured debt rating downgraded two notches to Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service yesterday.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has introduced a bill to restore the federal highway trust fund's ability to accrue interest on its revenues and prevent the federal government from delaying payments to states for transportation projects.

Connecticut lawmakers this week overrode the governor's veto to start the process of creating a public health insurer that could use bond financing for part of its implementation.

Standard & Poor’s on Monday downgraded Howard Young Medical Center Inc.’s rating to BBB from BBB-plus due to large operating losses in fiscal 2008 that prompted a debt service covenant violation.

Wishard Health Services last week unveiled its proposal to ask Marion County voters in November to approve up to $704 million of bonds to fund construction of a new $754 million hospital campus to replace aging facilities.

Moody’s Investors Service this week revised its outlook on CentraCare Health System’s underlying A3 rating to stable from negative ahead of its $50 million bond sale next month.

DALLAS - Houston is planning to price nearly $1 billion of debt before the end of the month in a deal that could include Build America Bonds.

CHICAGO - Des Moines-based Iowa Health System - the state's largest health care provider - this week plans to sell $50 million of new-money bonds and early next month will shift $350 million of its variable-rate debt to a fixed-rate structure as the system seeks to reduce its floating-rate exposure.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Railroad Administration received 278 preliminary applications for $102 billion of high-speed rail grants, even though the stimulus law authorized only $8 billion of federal funds for the projects.