Public finance

CALIFORNIA

President Obama is pushing for Congress to take up his proposed $302 billion, four-year Grow America Act before the extension of the Highway Trust Fund expires in May, a top Transportation Department official said Tuesday at The Bond Buyer's Transportation Finance/P3 Conference.

High speed rail in the U.S. is stymied by a lack of political will and no dedicated funding.

FLORIDA

ARKANSAS

The failure of Congress to agree on sustainable, long-term federal transportation funding is leading to more local solutions.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne says new P3 rules remove the mystery from the selection process.

KENTUCKY

ALABAMA

Volume is forecast to more than double to nearly $7.9 billion this week as Connecticut makes its way to the helm of the primary market with its $550 million offering of general obligation bonds.

Innovative businessman James A. Lebenthal — whose family was often referred to as the first family of New York City municipal bonds — is widely credited as the first broker to use the media to sell tax-exempt investments to individual investors. He coined such phrases in his ads as "bonds are my babies" and championed the debt of projects like the World Trade Center.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority approves a $1 billion capital construction program at Reagan National Airport.

In a bid to boost its sagging economy, Puerto Rico is contemplating its biggest tax overhaul in decades.

CALIFORNIA

ARKANSAS

Virginia's Commonwealth Transportation Board tightens the rules on how the state deals with public-private partnerships.

CALIFORNIA

ARKANSAS

An influential Chicago area planning agency will press state lawmakers to establish a regional infrastructure fund supported by a quarter-cent sales tax increase with its eye on financing transportation, water, and open space projects.

More investment is needed in U.S. transportation infrastructure to ensure all systems are connected to each other, Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday.