Industries

DALLAS — With $15 million in federal grants for a high-speed rail study, Texas officials see the state as well-positioned for developing a Houston-to-Dallas corridor.

DALLAS — A Louisiana bill proposing $3 billion of revenue bonds for state road projects died in a legislative committee Tuesday when its sponsor voluntarily deferred it due to opposition from lawmakers and Gov. Bobby Jindal. The bill would have raised the state’s private-vehicle registration fee to $30 from $10 to support up to $3 billion of bonds for 42 projects in 27 parishes.

Cincinnati’s long-planned proposal to build a streetcar line advanced last week despite opposition from Ohio’s new Republican governor, John Kasich. Mayor Mark Mallory announced last week that the city would begin work on the $95 million, four-mile first segment of the line.

Missouri Department of Transportation director Kevin Keith last week announced a plan to dramatically cut the agency in a bid to redirect funds to road and bridge projects.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is now expected to wait until the Legislature ­approves a fiscal 2012 budget before introducing a draft measure to advance a controversial plan to build a publicly funded bridge over the busy trade route spanning the Detroit River.

Illinois won an additional $454 million in federal high-speed rail funding.

The U.S. Department of Transportation redirected high-speed rail funds originally intended for Florida on Monday, announcing $2 billion of grants to 15 states and Amtrak for 22 projects.

DALLAS — Louisiana lawmakers will consider a resolution this week to require legislative approval of a plan to issue revenue bonds to finance a proposed new state hospital in New Orleans.

DALLAS — The Texas Department of Transportation would be spared the kind of funding cuts hitting other agencies under a budget bill approved by the state Senate last week.

SAN FRANCISCO — At its inception the South Bay Expressway toll road was promoted as a model public-private partnership. It took ages to build, then quickly plunged into bankruptcy.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Two Virginia issuers that plan to price a combined $806 million of double-A rated tax-exempt bonds early next week should find plenty of investors to snap up the high-grade paper, according to market participants.

Fitch Ratings last Thursday upgraded bonds issued for Greenspring Village Inc., a continuing-care retirement community in Springfield, Va., to A from BBB-plus.

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday approved a multi-year, full-funding grant agreement to build the $1.2 billion SunRail project in central Florida.

DALLAS — Fitch Ratings has lowered the outlook on Colorado Springs Airport debt from stable to negative while affirming its A-minus rating.

A majority of the nation’s mayors want the new highway bill coming from Congress to emphasize streets and bridges over highways and to provide financing tools such as Build America Bonds, TIFIA loans or a national infrastructure bank.

CHICAGO — The University of Chicago Medical Center will enter the market with $182 million of debt beginning next week to wrap up its planned borrowing for a new hospital pavilion that will house its complex-care services.

DALLAS — The Louisiana House Appropriations Committee declined Monday to give the go-ahead for construction of a $1.2 billion state hospital in New Orleans until a more complete business plan is developed.

Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed its A2 rating on Kettering Health Network’s $41 million of bonds but revised its outlook to negative from stable, warning that planned debt sales could pressure the system’s balance sheet.

The federal government last week officially agreed to cover half the nearly $1 billion cost for the 11-mile Central Corridor light-rail line that will connect the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Moody’s Investors Service revised its outlook to stable from negative and affirmed its A2 rating on Oakwood Healthcare Inc., a multi-hospital system headquartered in Dearborn.