Industries

Standard & Poor's downgraded the New York State Thruway Authority to A-plus with a stable outlook from AA-minus yesterday, affecting $2.4 billion of outstanding general revenue bonds.

Condell Medical Center in Libertyville has agreed to pay the federal and state governments $36 million under a settlement that resolves the 283-bed hospital’s improper collection of Medicare and Medicaid payments.

House Democratic leaders yesterday said they will have an economic recovery package ready for Congress to consider when it begins its new session on Jan. 6 that includes billions of dollars for infrastructure projects and other initiatives to spur job growth, as well as proposals from President-elect Barack Obama.

Charging New York motor vehicles registration fees based on weight could generate more than $1 billion for the cash-strapped Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. said last week.

CHICAGO - The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday announced it would hear Provena Covenant Medical Center's appeal of a lower court opinion that stripped the Urbana hospital of its property tax exemption for failing to provide sufficient charity care.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to competitively market $300 million of federally taxable notes on Wednesday. The deal will be the largest competitive municipal debt sale since the market froze up in mid-September following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers.

Swap agreements continue to plague the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, as the agency would need to pay approximately $450 million in combined termination fees in the event of further credit rating downgrades.

CHICAGO - Michigan's William Beaumont Hospital is expected to enter the market this week with roughly $170 million of revenue bonds after it significantly scaled back its capital plan in the face of operational challenges and a volatile credit market.

To stimulate investment in infrastructure and to boost domestic employment, Congress should permit pension fund purchasers of municipal bonds to reassign only the tax-benefit - the exemption feature - of those bonds to U.S. taxpayers seeking tax deductions.

New Jersey officials are holding out for better market conditions on a $169 million Solaris Health System refinancing that's part of the state's Hospital Asset Transformation Program.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama yesterday vowed to work closely with state and local officials to craft his two-year, multibillion-dollar stimulus plan and stressed that it will focus on providing funding for transportation and infrastructure projects that are already underway or ready to go.

The Metro transit agency late last week approved a 50-cent fare increase in a move aimed at shoring up its operating budget following voter rejection earlier this month of a sales tax hike.

Only weeks after downgrading the credit, Moody’s Investors Service this week revised its outlook on William Beaumont Hospital to negative from stable as it prepares to issue $169 million of revenue bonds.

A month after it was forced to purchase a chunk of its own debt when it was unable to access the frozen credit markets, a Kalamazoo-based hospital plans to try again early next month.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The North Carolina Turnpike Authority plans next week to announce a concessionaire to enter into a pre-development agreement for the Mid-Currituck Bridge project, the agency's first public-private partnership.

CHICAGO - The Minnesota Metropolitan Airports Commission will vote next month on a $125.8 million capital budget, as a $800 million terminal expansion remains on hold and officials await a proposal from Delta Air Lines over repayment of commission-backed bonds issued for the former Northwest Airlines.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama yesterday announced his economic team and said he has directed them to draft a broad, multibillion-dollar stimulus package within the next two months that would provide funds for infrastructure projects. He also warned that the deficit will grow significantly whether or not stimulus legislation is enacted and did not rule out repealing Bush administration tax cuts before they expire.

DALLAS - Utah has halted $3.9 billion of road projects representing all new construction amid a worsening budget crunch, officials said.

The Triborough Bridge connecting Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge last week, but don’t look for TBTA — Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority — debt to be renamed “RFKBTA” bonds.

Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., have introduced a bill that would provide up to $8 billion of private-activity bonds for high-speed rail projects, as well as create a new category of tax-credit bonds to further encourage rail development.