Industries

WASHINGTON - House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman Jim Oberstar has proposed a spending package totaling $85 billion to be included in forthcoming stimulus or economic recovery legislation.

WASHINGTON - The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has received final approval and a promise of $900 million of funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation for its $5.2 billion Dulles Metrorail extension project, which will be financed with $2 billion of bonds beginning in April.

DALLAS - Stephen F. Austin State University will issue $23 million of revenue bonds next week to build a nursing school and expand other buildings on its Nacogdoches, Tex., campus.

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine on Monday appointed deputy secretary of transportation Barbara Reese as deputy policy director for his office.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority said Monday that its fiscal crisis has worsened since it took measures to deal with a $60 million budget shortfall in mid-December.

As the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey gears up for a long-awaited refinancing, questions continue over its billing and financial practices.

WASHINGTON - The current financial crisis that has caused Treasury rates to plummet has created a boom in demand for a 10-year-old federal program that offers low-interest loans, pegged to Treasury rates, to transportation departments and private investors. But there is no longer enough funding in the TIFIA program to meet the growing demand, according to transportation experts and market participants.

DALLAS - Oklahoma has identified 100 highway projects across the state that could begin construction as early as March if Congress passes a proposed multibillion-dollar transportation infrastructure stimulus package.

Standard & Poor’s last week downgraded MetroHealth System to BBB-plus from A-minus due to weak operating results. The action affects $28.8 million of variable-rate bonds issued in 2003 through Cuyahoga County. The bonds carry a letter of credit but Standard & Poor’s does not rate it.

DALLAS - With its own future in question, the Texas Department of Transportation is abandoning the Trans-Texas Corridor as a planning concept, executive director Amadeo Saenz said yesterday.

Virgin Galactic last week signed a 20-year lease agreement that calls for the tourist spaceflight provider to establish its headquarters in New Mexico and base its operations at the state-owned Spaceport America.

SAN FRANCISCO - The largest public housing finance agency in the country has stopped most mortgage lending and is working to deleverage its balance sheet to help it weather the sharpest housing downturn in its three decade history.

Columbia St. Mary and Froedtert & Community Health’s partnership is now on hold due to economic conditions.

Standard & Poor’s earlier this month downgraded Crittenton Hospital Medical Center’s debt to A from A-plus due to economic challenges facing the hospital.

WASHINGTON - State and local governments could get an infusion of federal funds next year to jump-start many of their shovel-ready transportation projects if Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama are able to enact a promised stimulus package soon after Obama takes office, industry stakeholders said in recent interviews.

DALLAS - The New Orleans Aviation Board will refund all $113.3 million of its outstanding variable-rate debt and pay swap termination fees of up to $16.7 million for five related interest rate swaps with the proceeds from the negotiated sale of $138.8 million of fixed-rate airport revenue bonds next week.

Fitch Ratings has confirmed the rating of AAA/F-1 assigned to Denver International Airport’s $148.5 million of system revenue bonds under a new standby bond purchase agreement with Morgan Stanley Bank.

DALLAS - The El Paso City Council yesterday approved creation of Texas' first transportation reinvestment zone that could attract an estimated $1 billion in state funds for road projects.

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority officials may postpone a vote on proposed toll hikes to give incoming Transportation Secretary Jim Aloisi time to review the agency's books.

CHICAGO - Loyola University of Chicago has stepped up to help its ailing health system with an infusion of $19 million in cash, a move that staved off the system's violation of bank liquidity terms and the loss of its investment grade credit.