Industries

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority unanimously voted to endorse Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s proposal to accelerate the region’s mass-transit capital plan.

New Jersey Department of Transportation commissioner James Simpson Thursday said Gov. Chris Christie’s administration is considering several options for replenishing the state’s Transportation Trust Fund.

Summa Health System, one of the largest health care providers in Ohio, is set to enter the market Tuesday with $175 million of new-money bonds.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Transit Authority early next month will restructure about $100 million of its federal capital grant-backed bonds. The agency will avoid principal payments this year and next in order to accelerate capital spending and provide an operating cushion in case fiscal pressures mount.

CHICAGO — Several Midwestern recipients of portions of the $8 billion in federal stimulus funds earmarked for high-speed rail lobbied for more funding to promote overall rail use and defended their projects’ lack of speed against Republican criticism during a congressional field hearing here Tuesday.

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened an investigation into an $83.3 million bond deal that Miami-Dade County sold last year on behalf of the county’s financially ailing Public Health Trust.

North Carolina Gov. Beverley Perdue Tuesday released a budget proposal for fiscal 2011 that includes no additional bond issuance, but creates a new fund for transportation projects. The plan, which would amend the state’s biennial budget passed last year, closes a $1.2 billion budget gap.

DALLAS — Without a sales tax increase, the Denver area’s FasTracks transit system — originally designed as a 12-year project — would not be completed until 2042, according to the Regional Transportation District.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation yesterday released a plan that provides a framework for potential rail development during the next 25 years.

Michigan would see a relatively minor impact on its fiscal position as a result of the new federal health care law, according to an analysis by the Legislature’s Senate Fiscal Agency.

CHICAGO — St. Louis-based SSM Health Care System took retail orders yesterday on $280 million of fixed-rate bonds that will be open to institutional investors today. The deal will be followed early next month with $300 million of floating-rate debt.

Moody’s Investors Service last week upgraded its rating to A3 from Baa1 on Capital Region Medical Center. The upgrade affects $36 million of outstanding debt issued through the Missouri State Health and Educational Facilities Authority.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised the outlook on Nevada Regional Medical Center’s BBB-minus rating to negative. The action affects $21.7 million of debt.

Clarian Health Partners Inc. could spend up to $500 million to build a new patient tower at its Methodist Hospital site in downtown Indianapolis. Financing would include a mix of donations, cash, and tax-exempt bonds.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last week announced a $12.8 billion highway improvement program for fiscal 2011 through 2016 that’s projected to create 167,000 jobs.

WASHINGTON — Real estate investment trusts could be the next frontier for infrastructure financing, according to a report released yesterday by Deloitte LLP, a member of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss association. But legislation is needed to clarify questions of eligibility if public-sector entities want to secure REIT investments, the report said.

The director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation told highway commissioners last week that any more cuts in state funding could halt a planned sale of $150 million of bonds.

The North Little Rock City Council last week unanimously approved a proposal by Mayor Patrick Hays to issue $7 million of five-year sales tax bonds that will provide $750,000 for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Arkansas River.

The Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance will hold four meetings across Arkansas in May to get public input on its proposals for financing state and local highway and street projects.

Jay Walder, chairman and chief executive officer of New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, last week urged the municipal finance community to continue to support capital funding for mass-transit projects despite the economic downturn.