Economy

With a planned $85.7 million offering Wednesday, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will stick with its strategy of doing smaller but more frequent competitive deals, given that the market remains challenging for bigger bond issues.

CHICAGO - At least three of Ohio's six port authority bond fund programs are grappling with delinquent borrowers who are struggling to repay loans from the funds in the declining economy.

House members this week are set to take up a transportation reform bill after the Senate passed the measure last week in a vote of 39 to 1.

WASHINGTON - An increase to the passenger facilities charge that would fill airport coffers with more than $1 billion dollars in additional revenue each year could be included in a long-delayed aviation bill, but a House-proposed 55% increase may be unlikely because of political obstacles in the Senate, congressional staffers said Friday.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick's administration last week announced that it will begin evaluating a potential merger of the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority and the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency in an effort to cut expenditures and create efficiencies between the two entities, yet critics say the move could increase borrowing costs for colleges and hospitals throughout the state.

Gov. Martin O’Malley last week announced that Maryland was the first state to meet requirements that will allow it to use at least half of its $431 million of highway funding provided by the stimulus package.

WASHINGTON — Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday that it will maintain its negative outlook on U.S. airports for the next 12 to 18 months because of the economic crisis, and that unfavorable industry trends will put downward pressure on airport credit ratings.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer Monday received the California State Parks Foundation’s Legacy Award at a Monday ceremony for his efforts to block an Orange County toll road.

CHICAGO — The well-respected Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic, beginning on Monday, will reoffer two of three term bonds coming due over the next two months and convert the third to a fixed-rate structure amid negative credit reports that include a downgrade from Standard & Poor’s.

Gov. Sarah Palin has appointed a substitute teacher to serve on the board of the Alaska Railroad.

Federal courts this week rejected two attempts by California to get out of a federal court order to provide expensive improvements to the state’s prison health care system, the Associated Press reported.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority yesterday approved fare and toll hikes and service cutbacks to close a $1.2 billion budget gap as the Legislature failed to agree on a rescue plan.

The House and Senate budget committees yesterday began laying the groundwork for federal spending for the next five years, although any budget resolution resulting from the proposals in both chambers would not set legislative specifics and would only be intended as a blueprint.

Fitch Ratings yesterday returned $2.1 billion of Massachusetts Turnpike Authority debt to negative watch after the authority on Tuesday postponed a toll increase set for this week that would have generated $100 million annually.

The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee yesterday made clear he opposes a national infrastructure bank to fund transportation needs, warning it would siphon money away from projects the highway trust fund currently finances and serve urban areas at the expense of rural parts of the country.

The Dormitory Authority of the State of New York yesterday announced the selection of a new slate of underwriters and gave preliminary and final approval to sales of $772.6 million of debt at its monthly board meeting.

New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority could face a downgrade on its transportation revenue bonds unless it finds new revenue sources, Moody’s Investors Service said in a special comment Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Funding from the federal government is now being parceled out from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and states and localities are deciding where to invest their money.

SAN FRANCISCO— Dan Thomas is chief financial officer of the Port of Seattle, which owns and operates Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and the seaport.

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Kone, assistant deputy airport director for finance at San Francisco International Airport, manages a major variable-rate bond portfolio that’s helping to fund a 10-year, $1.35 billion capital improvement project at the West Coast’s second-busiest airport by passenger traffic.