Economy

WASHINGTON - The top Republican on the Senate's tax-writing committee yesterday suggested that nonprofit hospitals, which are currently tax-exempt and have the ability to issue tax-exempt bonds, should instead become taxable and receive tax deductions or credits for charitable activities.

WASHINGTON - Medicare and Social Security trust funds will run out of money in 2017 and 2037, respectively - two to four years earlier than previously projected - because of the recession, trustees concluded in annual reports sent to Congress.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to market bonds on a new credit using a new dedicated revenue stream that the state established last week, officials said at a special board meeting convened yesterday to reduce fare and toll increases.

President Obama's budget proposes to hike the marginal tax rates of the wealthy to 36% and 39.6% beginning in fiscal 2011, and to increase by 5% the capital gains and dividends tax rate for the wealthy - tax changes that market participants say could lead to higher demand for tax-exempt bonds.

The fiscal storm that buffeted New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority for months has abated somewhat after lawmakers finally came up with new revenue streams for the stressed agency, but the forecast is still cloudy.

WASHINGTON — The North Carolina Turnpike Authority’s board moved forward with a $650 million toll road bond deal — its first and the largest of any issuer in the state — after obtaining bond insurance from Assured Guaranty Corp.

Sens. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, have introduced two bills that pro-tolling market participants worry would put a halt to public-private partnerships for highways.

The North Carolina Turnpike Authority has received a conditional letter of commitment from Assured Guaranty Corp. that could allow it to issue its first bonds in June, says executive director, David Joyner.

Miami-Dade County commissioners meeting Tuesday refused to advance a proposal that could have led to the repeal of a half-cent transit tax that has leveraged $461 million of debt. But efforts to repeal the tax may not be over yet.

Overall costs on a parking garage financed with municipal bonds in Washington, N.J., have ballooned nearly five times from original estimates to $2.7 million, according to a state-level audit of the borough.

The head of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority resigned effective May 22 to comply with a provision of the MTA bailout.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn late last month said Dr. Quentin Young declined his appointment to serve as chairman of the Health Facilities Planning Board after discovering that his former practice had partial ownership in a property that leases space to Advocate Health Care.

The New York Senate was expected to finish a bill last night to close a funding gap for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority that would create revenue streams to support up to $6 billion of bonds for the transit system, a spokesman for the Senate majority said.

Standard & Poor’s last week downgraded Provena Health System’s issuer credit rating to BBB-plus from A-minus due to challenged operations and light debt-service coverage, and assigned a negative outlook.

New Jersey will revamp its underwriting pool in the next few weeks, with an eye to bringing in firms that offer transportation financing strategies for the state.

DALLAS - With some trepidation, Denton County, north of Dallas and Fort Worth, will test the strength of its triple-A credit rating in a competitive sale of $104 million of general obligation bonds next week.

A long-term plan for capital financing for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority appeared to be off the table yesterday as New York lawmakers kept talking about a rescue plan for the troubled agency.

Three road projects in Oklahoma financed with federal infrastructure stimulus funds got under way last week, one month after the contracts were approved by the Oklahoma Transportation Commission.

CHICAGO - The vote late last week by the Wisconsin Legislature's Joint Finance Committee to create regional transportation authorities with taxing powers in the Milwaukee and Madison areas has generated praise and criticism - with some calling on lawmakers and Gov. Jim Doyle to reject the package.

New York Gov. David Paterson yesterday nominated a new chairman to the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, the second largest issuer of bonds in the country. Paterson picked Alfonso L. Carney Jr. to replace Gail Gordon, who has served as chairwoman for 11 of the 14 years she’s been on the board.