Economy

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.

DALLAS - The Kansas House Transportation Committee has endorsed a bill establishing a new 10-year, $17.7 billion comprehensive statewide transportation program, but a Senate bill raising taxes to support the effort is unlikely to make it out of committee.

Standard & Poor’s has revised AA-plus rated Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s outlook to negative from stable due to a weakened balance sheet ahead of this week’s sale of $455 million of fixed-rate bonds through the Illinois Finance Authority.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority's finance committee yesterday passed a detailed toll and fare increase schedule as already depressed dedicated tax revenue collections weakened further.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority yesterday approved delaying a toll increase set for Thursday with the stipulation that the legislature must allocate at least $100 million to MassPike by July 1 or face a toll hike at that time.

The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority faces rising debt service costs as it moves forward with a $1.6 billion fiscal 2010 capital plan that legislators will now consider.

DALLAS - The Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority, better known as Metro, will have to seek other funding sources for its expanding Houston-area rail system after learning that federal stimulus funds will not be available.

WASHINGTON - The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will bring $400 million of bonds to market in the next two weeks after postponing deals last fall due to the turmoil in the marketplace in the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority today may opt to postpone toll increases that are set to begin Friday and instead use reserve funds to help meet operating costs for the remainder of fiscal 2009, which ends June 30.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey plans to refinance up to $575 million of debt before April 15, in part to avoid accelerated debt payments on a series of outstanding variable-rate bonds.

The Hawaii Superferry ceased services this week after an adverse reading from the state Supreme Court.