Economy

House Transportation Committee chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., is expected to unveil a white paper tomorrow outlining the upcoming multi-year highway bill, but it probably will not contain details about the funding levels, revenue sources, or tax provisions necessary to pay for transportation programs, sources said yesterday.

Moody’s Investors Service last week placed the Chicago Transit Authority’s $2 billion of sales and transfer tax receipts bonds and lease revenue bonds on negative watch, an action that stems from Moody’s downgrade earlier this month of the CTA’s parent agency.

DALLAS - The North Texas Tollway Authority is all but certain to raise tolls to preserve its debt-service coverage after revenues for 2009 fell by nearly 11%, officials indicated yesterday.

Standard & Poor’s this week knocked the Detroit Local Development Finance Authority’s tax increment financing bonds Series 1997B and C and 1998A further into junk bond territory due to “significant uncertainty” over the future of a Chrysler plant that makes up most of the taxable value of the district.

SAN FRANCISCO - Siebert Brandford Shank & Co. has announced the formation of a transportation finance group.

DALLAS - Dallas Area Rapid Transit expects to make history with its record $1 billion bond issue today. The triple-A rated deal is not only DART's largest ever, but the biggest in the Southwest so far this year.

Standard & Poor’s revised its credit outlook on Howard University to negative as the school and its affiliated hospital have suffered operating losses.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Atlanta Board of Education on Monday affirmed its participation in two of the city’s tax allocation districts, clearing a major hurdle to advancing up to $200 million of bonds for the long-delayed BeltLine project.

DALLAS - With the fate of five state agencies in limbo, Texas Gov. Rick Perry confirmed that he will call a special session of the Legislature, but said he has not decided when or what issues will be included.

Bucking a nationwide trend of decline for most airports, the rating outlook for Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport last week was revised to stable from negative when its credit ratings were affirmed.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Finance Authority board signed off on more than $1 billion worth of nonprofit health care deals and accepted the resignation of executive director John Filan, but then rehired him in an advisory capacity to help implement a revamped $3 billion program for renewable energy.

Fitch Ratings affirmed its top ratings on the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airport Commission and its $261 million of general obligation debt.

Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook on Chicago-based Swedish Covenant Hospital’s BBB-plus issuer credit rating to stable from positive due to operating losses last year.

The New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust may finance nearly $900 million of clean water and wastewater projects in fiscal 2010, almost double its typical annual program, with the aid of federal and state stimulus funds.

Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook on Chippewa County Memorial Hospital’s below-investment-grade credit of BB-plus to stable from positive.

A group of transportation experts yesterday urged Congress to develop a new agenda for transportation that creates and expands bond-related financing programs and sets specific national goals but gives states and localities maximum funding flexibility for projects.

CHICAGO - The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois in coming weeks will convert $133 million of high interest-rate variable-rate securities to a new, more affordable mode and enter the market to raise $260 million for cash flow as the agency grapples with dwindling sales taxes and state payment delays.

Arizona State University in August will open its new College of Nursing and Health Innovation in downtown Phoenix that has been built with proceeds from bonds issued by the city.

DALLAS - The North Texas Tollway Authority will apply $133 million of federal stimulus funds to its first toll project in Tarrant County, officials said.

The New Jersey Health Care Facilities Financing Authority tomorrow will head to market with $150 million of state-backed, fixed-rate bonds that will help finance the consolidation of acute-care services in northern New Jersey.