Economy

The Cook County Board of Commissioners last week hired a new chief executive officer to oversee the system’s massive and financially troubled public health bureau.

New York Gov. David Paterson said yesterday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's capital plan would be in peril if the Legislature does not pass a rescue for the cash-strapped agency by March 25.

The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston would be restored to its pre-Hurricane Ike capacity of 550 patient beds under a $713 million recovery plan approved last week by UT regents.

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport hopes to use $200 million in federal stimulus funds for its automated train project so it can reduce the amount of debt it will issue for the $1.1 billion undertaking.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority last week unanimously approved a $1.62 billion operating budget for fiscal 2010, a plan that depends on $160 million from the state to help close a deficit of the same amount.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority at a special board meeting Friday urged the New York Legislature to pass a plan that would give it new revenue streams to finance its capital program and provide additional operating funds.

SAN FRANCISCO — In what participants say is a groundbreaking deal, the Port of Oakland has agreed to a 50-year concession for five of its container-ship berths, with an option for two more.

An attorney’s role in a municipal bond transaction gone wrong has sparked opposition to his potential appointment as a U.S. attorney for eastern Washington, the Associated Press reported.

WASHINGTON — At a time when the federal government is putting a tourniquet on one of the hottest transportation financing instruments available to municipal issuers and private investors in the current market, the Department of Transportation’s chief may decide to release $200 million of additional funding to help meet the program’s demands.

President Obama yesterday signed into law a $410 billion omnibus spending measure, which will keep federal programs funded through Sept. 30.

The U.S. Department of Transportation this week signed off on an agreement to provide its share of full funding - $900 million - for the $5.2 billion Dulles Metrorail extension project, which will be financed with $2 billion of bonds beginning this spring.

Rhode Island plans to sell $350 million of tax anticipation notes and $50 million of bonds through the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, under Gov. Donald Carcieri's fiscal 2010 budget proposal.

CHICAGO - Ohio's University Hospitals Health System plans to enter the market today with $110 million of fixed-rate bonds to finance a series of major projects intended to keep the system competitive in the Cleveland area.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority signed off on $650 million of borrowing planned by a handful of nonprofit hospitals and a college, including Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which plans to sell up to $475 million of fixed-rate bonds later this month.

DALLAS - The Texas Transportation Commission voted last week to use $1.2 billion of federal stimulus funds to move forward with numerous projects across the state, including some controversial toll roads.

The U.S. Department of Transportation this week granted the Michigan Strategic Fund a two-month extension to approve $787 million in private-activity bonds on behalf of a company planning to build a bridge spanning the busy trade route between Detroit and Canada.

If Congress fails to pass a bill to replace the current surface transportation law by the end of this fiscal year, federal highway aid to states will drop by 50% and transit aid will drop by 40%, Rep. Peter DeFazio warned yesterday.

A $10.7 billion proposal to bring high-speed rail to New York could use a mix of federal stimulus money, state and federal grants, public-private partnerships, and bonding, according to a plan released yesterday.

Lawmakers need to consider moving toward "creative public-private partnerships," such as through the development of toll roads, in order to adequately fund the nation's infrastructure, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said at a public transportation conference here yesterday.

DALLAS - Despite a strong global economic ebb tide and hurricane damage, Gulf Coast ports are planning to use federal stimulus funds and continue issuing debt to build for what they hope will be a more promising future.