Industries

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its $358 billion stimulus spending package yesterday, sending it to the full Senate without any amendments after less than three hours of committee discussion.

CHICAGO - As Evansville, Ind.-based Deaconess Health System prepares to issue roughly $100 million in fixed- and variable-rate bonds, finance officials say they are hoping to take advantage of the growing appetite for tax-exempt health care debt among retail buyers.

DALLAS - East Baton Rouge Parish intends to take $110 million of sales-tax-supported road and street improvement bonds to market today, but officials will watch the market before deciding whether to issue the debt as scheduled.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans sell up to $2.59 billion of bonds in 2009, the agency said yesterday.

The Senate Appropriations Committee will meet today to vote on a stimulus spending bill that offers less funding than requested by water utilities, municipal housing finance officials, and some senators. The groups are pushing for a revision.

CHICAGO - Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics expressed surprise late last week at the Minnesota attorney general's decision to file a lawsuit against the system over the credit-card like interest rates it charges on medical debts, saying it had already decided to lower those rates.

The South Jersey Port Corp. last week sold $25.8 million of debt aided by radio and print advertisements for a sister bond deal as retail buyers held back on the bonds.

President Obama's cabinet grew last week as the Senate confirmed Shaun Donovan as the new secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Ray LaHood as head of the Department of Transportation.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority expects OSF Healthcare System and Rush University Medical Center to soon join in on the slow trickle of struggling health care borrowers testing market interest in their sector's debt so far this year.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Florida's largest public-private project may be back on after all.

Responding to difficulties accessing the credit market with competitive deals, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey yesterday raised its maximum allowable interest rate on debt issuance to 12% from 8%.

CHICAGO - While the market has strengthened for many issuers over the last month, nonprofit health care providers continue to struggle to sell bonds at attractive prices - a problem that is likely to persist throughout 2009, Standard & Poor's predicted in a grim report on the sector issued yesterday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowed yesterday that she will bring $358 billion of bond-related and other federal spending provisions to the House floor next week as part of the economic stimulus package.

CHICAGO - Two Midwestern hospitals have postponed plans for high-profile cancer treatment centers - of which only five now exist nationally - citing a weak bond market for health care projects.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines is ready to launch a $519 million redevelopment of its flagship Love Field Airport in Dallas, even though the carrier's growth is "suspended indefinitely," chairman Gary Kelly said yesterday.

CHICAGO - The Regional Transportation Authority is considering taking out a short-term loan if Illinois fails in the next few weeks to catch up on $160 million of matching sales-tax dollars it owes to the agency.

The New York State Thruway Authority yesterday authorized the sale of up to $450 million of tax-exempt bonds on the state's second general highway and bridge trust fund credit. The deal comprises up to $250 million of new money and up to $200 million of refunding.

The House Appropriations Committee yesterday amended its proposal for the spending portion of the economic recovery package, easing a use-it-or-lose-it provision that would have required states to obligate their funds from the stimulus bill within four months.

Former Rep. Ray LaHood, a Republican from Illinois, yesterday was poised to become secretary of the Department of Transportation after he sailed through a Senate confirmation hearing on his nomination.

DALLAS - Woman's Hospital of Baton Rouge has halted construction on a hospital replacement project until it can sell up to $350 million of bonds to finance the effort.