Transportation industry

WASHINGTON - Maryland will begin selling bonds to retail investors on a negotiated basis tomorrow for three days and will then sell bonds to institutional investors on a competitive basis on Wednesday in a $485 million hybrid transaction.

WASHINGTON - House lawmakers voted 363 to 68 late yesterday to approve a bill that would provide $7 billion to the highway trust fund and keep money flowing to states through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

CHICAGO - Facing tough national competition, eight Midwestern governors joined together this week to present a united front in their push to land a share of $8 billion in federal funds available for high-speed rail projects from the economic stimulus program.

WASHINGTON - House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., yesterday introduced a bill that would provide $5 billion to the highway trust fund so that it stays solvent through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Abuse of authority and an apparently unauthorized accounting practice resulted in a financial deficit at the Georgia Department of Transportation that violated the state's constitution, according to investigations released late Monday by the state's auditor and inspector general.

The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority yesterday approved $1.6 billion of borrowing for capital projects, including a $150 million variable-rate transaction that will help address existing swap agreements.

The Oklahoma Capitol Improvement Authority last week approved the sale of $152 million of taxable Build America Bonds for state road and bridge projects.

WASHINGTON — Key lawmakers yesterday urged the revenue panel of the House Ways and Means Committee to immediately approve a short-term legislative fix for the expected shortfall in the highway trust fund, and in the long run to move toward a vehicle mileage tax to pay for transportation.

CHICAGO — The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission is gearing up to enter the market in mid-September with a $600 million Garvee sale to fund projects under the state’s Safe and Sound Bridge program that includes the upgrading or reconstruction of 802 bridges statewide.

Nevada’s two biggest airports got bad ratings news this week.

DALLAS - A new report from a Louisiana public affairs group warns that significant revenue sources dedicated to road construction and maintenance must be found to avoid long-term deterioration of the existing highway system in the state.

DALLAS - Southwest Airlines, which is leading a $519 million bond-funded redevelopment of its home airport Dallas Love Field, saw its senior unsecured debt rating downgraded two notches to Baa3 by Moody's Investors Service yesterday.

Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has introduced a bill to restore the federal highway trust fund's ability to accrue interest on its revenues and prevent the federal government from delaying payments to states for transportation projects.

DALLAS - Houston is planning to price nearly $1 billion of debt before the end of the month in a deal that could include Build America Bonds.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Railroad Administration received 278 preliminary applications for $102 billion of high-speed rail grants, even though the stimulus law authorized only $8 billion of federal funds for the projects.

The top Arkansas highway official told a special committee last week that state and local governments should be spending at least $300 million more each year to maintain the network of state, county, and city roads.

The South Jersey Transportation Authority - which operates the Atlantic City Expressway and the Atlantic City International Airport - will sell roughly $265 million of debt beginning this week.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will hold three public hearings later this summer regarding a proposed toll increase for the Dulles Toll Road. The proposed 25-cent fare hike will raise revenues for the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport.

The Massachusetts Port Authority will pay down $20.8 million of debt as the agency prepares to hand over the Tobin Bridge to a new entity, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee on Friday approved a $68.8 billion spending bill that would provide $4 billion for high-speed and intercity rail projects, $3 million more than was requested by President Obama in his fiscal 2010 budget.