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Monday morning memo: House budget, transportation funding, etc… (Greensboro News and Record)

Monday morning memo: House budget, transportation funding, etc… (Greensboro News and Record)
As the week gets going, here’s what’s on tap in Raleigh this Monday
Gov. Bev Perdue apparently noticed that the Senate didn’t include her mobility fund (and an associated increase car registration fees) in the chamber’s version of the budget. She’ll be standing on the side of I-40 this afternoon with several mayors to press for the fund. Initially a $22 million investment, the money would go toward high priority projects such as the I-85 bridge over the Yadkin River in Davidson County. (Background from the N+O’s Bruce Siceloff.)

Posted on Mon, May. 24, 2010

Mayors push for ‘mobility fund’ (Durham Herald Sun)

DURHAM — A group chaired by Mayor Bill Bell has joined Gov. Beverly Perdue and the N.C. Department of Transportation in pushing for the creation of a new “mobility fund” local officials could draw on to pay for major road and transit projects.

But the idea has so far generated little enthusiasm among legislators, including key members of Durham’s General Assembly delegation.

N.C. Senate budget writers ignored the governor’s request for $94.6 million in seed money for the fund. Members of the N.C. House also appear reluctant to get behind the idea.

“Members are concerned across the board about fees, and the mobility fund is primarily funded by new fees on vehicle registration,” said state Rep. Paul Luebke, senior chairman of the House Finance Committee.

Luebke’s committee would have to review any fee proposal, assuming it first got an endorsement from the appropriations subcommittee that handles transportation.

Perdue floated the mobility fund in part as a way of paying for the replacement of the bridge that carries Interstate 85 over the Yadkin River at the border of Rowan and Davidson counties.

The bridge is a key link for the entire I-85 corridor and will cost hundreds of millions to replace. State officials hoped to land a federal economic-stimulus grant to help pay for it, but the Obama administration said no.

Bell and the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition have gotten behind the proposal because Perdue has proposed opening the fund to other projects once it’s helped pay for the Yadkin bridge.

And the key selling point, for the mayors, is that Perdue has proposed exempting the new fund from the so-called “equity formula” that governs most DOT spending.

The formula requires DOT to spread money around to all parts of the state. Bell and other mayors from the state’s urban areas argue that thanks to the way the formula’s set up, it shortchanges congestion-plagued regions in favor of spending on rural projects.

Its workings can also force regions to commit almost all their money to big projects like the Yadkin bridge, squeezing out projects targeting secondary roads. That’s a problem Durham went through in recent years as the widenings here of Interstates 40 and 85 unfolded.

The mobility fund, by contrast, “brings a new source of funding to transportation, especially when we’re talking about congested areas,” Bell said.

“I know the downside is that it has a motor-vehicle tax to fund it,” Bell added. “But the alternative is we’re just going to get further congested in some of our critical areas in this state. The equity formula doesn’t do enough for what we’re doing.”

Luebke, however, said he’d prefer to see Perdue take the lead in pushing a compromise rewrite of the equity formula. That “really needs to be addressed as a priority,” he said.

State Sen. Floyd McKissick said budget writers in his chamber opted to focus mostly on what they felt needed to be done for education and jobs.

While there’s a chance the Senate might return to the issue later this spring, particularly if the House added the mobility fund to its draft of the budget, “I’m not sure there’s going to be sufficient momentum or funds available to do much in this session,” McKissick said.

The governor, DOT officials and the mayors, however, are not giving up. Perdue is scheduled to hold a news conference Monday afternoon to push the idea.

DOT’s chief operating officer, Jim Trogdon, made a point Thursday of asking members of the state Board of Transportation to lobby legislators. He labeled the effort “critical” and made it clear that the governor and her people see the mobility fund as the way forward.

“We have heard a lot of discussion about ‘next year’ and what we can do if we wait,” Trogdon told state board members. “I have been with N.C. DOT almost 19 years and three years with the N.C. General Assembly. ‘Next year’ will never come. If we do not as a state have the backbone to support what is obviously a win-win scenario for all who use transportation, and start phasing in the funds, this year, to support this effort, then we will never have the backbone to accomplish these clear and obvious objectives.”

By Ray Gronberg

Senate shuns Perdue plea for road fund (News and Observer)

Senate shuns Perdue plea for road fund (News and Observer)

Last week, the state Senate quietly ignored Gov. Bev Perdue’s $94.6 million proposal to establish a fund that would help fix the Yadkin River bridge on Interstate 85 now – and tackle other big statewide transportation problems later.

The $19 billion budget approved by the Senate last week had no mention of Perdue’s proposed N.C. Mobility Fund or of the fee increases and revenue transfers she would use to pay for it.

Advocates for urban needs and for transportation improvements said they would lobby the House to reinstate Perdue’s plan when it adopts its version of the 2011 budget.

She had proposed to divert $22 million this year, and more in future years, from the dwindling yearly transfer from the Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund. And she wanted to produce another $74.6 million a year in new revenue by raising some motor vehicle fees – mostly by increasing the annual car registration fee from $28 to $35.

Perdue hoped over the next several years to build a yearly appropriation of about $300 million for statewide transportation projects. But it was not clear who would decide how the money was to be spent.

After the federal government turned down North Carolina’s $300 million request for stimulus funds to replace the narrow, outdated Yadkin bridge on I-85 at Salisbury, the state Department of Transportation said it would find other money to start work this year on a wider bridge.

But DOT still needed about $150 million to widen six miles of I-85 near the bridge. Perdue said that would be the first use of her proposed Mobility Fund.

Administration officials later said they also would earmark $30 million a year for interstate highway maintenance across the state and $20 million to augment Powell Bill funds that are distributed to towns and cities for local streets and sidewalks.

Julie White, director of the N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition, urged local leaders last week to drum up support for Perdue’s Mobility Fund in the House.

“Show members of the General Assembly that cities have confidence in NCDOT to build a prioritization process that will ensure the funds are spent on mobility projects of statewide significance,” White said Thursday in an e-mail to city officials.

[email protected] or 919-829-4527

Published Sun, May 23, 2010 03:57 AM
Modified Sun, May 23, 2010 01:27 AM

House needs to hear from you in support of the Mobility Fund

While the Governor and mayors held a press conference in support of the NC Mobility Fund just hours before, the House leadership just announced they do not plan include the Fund in their budget.

We are asking that you register your support for the NC Mobility Fund by sending your comments to the NC House via the website they have created to hear from you. Click here to complete the form and note that you support the House including the NC Mobility Fund in their budget.

We need to encourage as many people as possible to register their support of the Fund through the House’s website. Please ask all your council members, staff, family, neighbors, and friends to go to the website and ask the House to include the Mobility Fund in the budget.

Here are the talking points:

Need: North Carolina needs additional transportation resources that focus on mobility projects of statewide significance.

Solution: The Mobility Fund needs to be created this year, even if only with limited funding. Let’s get the Fund started.

Project Selection: The first project should be the Yadkin River Bridge. While the bridge is being built NCDOT can lead a prioritization process much like they have done over the last year for highway projects. We have confidence in NCDOT to partner with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure a data driven process that will target the Mobility Fund resources at projects of statewide significance that affect mobility.

Risk: Don’t just fix the Yadkin River Bridge without creating the Mobility Fund. Create the Fund and designate the Bridge as the first project.

The website is only accepting comments through tomorrow, so register your thoughts quickly.

Modifications Sought by Oberstar Added to Tax Extenders Bill (AASHTO)

The House of Representatives could vote as early as Tuesday on a package of tax extensions that will include language altering how nearly $1 billion in federal highway funds is distributed among states.

House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee James Oberstar, D-Minnesota, told the media this week that the tax package will contain two highway formula redistributions he has sought. These changes would redistribute $932 million in federal highway funds among states based upon their share of overall federal highway spending rather than earmarks received under two programs as part of the 2005 federal surface transportation authorization law known as “SAFETEA-LU.”

A bill summary released by the Senate Finance Committee notes the highway funding changes are included in the legislation. The bill, HR 4213, would make two changes to the surface transportation extension title of the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, according to the bill summary:
1. Distribute the Projects of National & Regional Significance and National Corridor Infrastructure Improvement program funding among all states based on each state’s share of Fiscal Year 2009 highway apportioned funds rather than to only 29 states and the District of Columbia that had PNRS and National Corridor projects under SAFETEA-LU.
2. Distribute “additional” highway formula funds (which the bill makes available in lieu of additional congressionally designated projects) among all of the highway formula programs rather than among just six formula programs.
These two changes were agreed to by Oberstar; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California; and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, back in March. (see March 26 AASHTO Journal story) Although the House has voted twice to approve the highway formula modifications, the Senate has so far failed to go along.

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, is among those senators who have objected to changing the formulas. Illinois is among four states receiving nearly 60% of the funding under these two programs. The other major beneficiaries of the current formulas are California, Louisiana, and Washington state.

Durbin contends the Oberstar/Pelosi/Reid changes would cost the Prairie State $119 million in highway funds.

“Your proposed changes would drastically reduce funding Illinois is expecting under the current formula and it plans to use on important projects across my state,” Durbin wrote in an April 7 letter to Oberstar. “This would be an unfair rescission of funding and inconsistent with the Obama administration and Congress’

[desire] to invest in transportation/infrastructure and put people back to work.”

Build America Bonds Extension Included in Tax Bill

HR 4213 also includes an expansion of Build America Bonds for two years (through 2012). For direct-pay Build America Bonds issued in 2011, the amount of the direct payment would be reduced from 35% to 32% of the coupon interest, according to the Finance Committee’s bill summary. For such bonds issued in 2012, the amount of the direct payment would be reduced to 30% of the coupon interest. The bill would also allow issuers to refinance Build America Bonds to save money should interest rates fall in the future.

This bonds extension is estimated to cost the federal government $4 billion in interest subsidies over 10 years. For more information about Build America Bonds, see April 9 AASHTO Journal story.

Questions regarding this article may be directed to [email protected].

House Subcommittee Hearing Focuses on Proposed Infrastructure Bank (AASHTO)

A national infrastructure bank would help address the challenges of how to pay for maintaining and improving the nation’s infrastructure and do so at a relatively low cost to the federal government, according to several speakers at a recent House subcommittee hearing.

The May 13 hearing by the House Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee drew the governor of Pennsylvania, the mayor of Los Angeles, and several other officials to testify on the creation of a federally funded financial institution that would channel public and private money toward infrastructure projects.

“Now would be a good time to lay the groundwork for significant infrastructure improvements,” said subcommittee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts. “With bridges crumbling and cities boiling water, we have received the message that America’s infrastructure is desperately in need of support.”

While other subcommittee members were generally supportive of infrastructure funding, several of those at the hearing expressed reservations about provisions to raise revenue for an infrastructure bank or similar financing mechanisms.

Rep. Paul Tiberi, R-Ohio and ranking minority member of the subcommittee, said “additional spending doesn’t come without a cost.” Other subcommittee members questioned the political will at this time to enact tax increases to fund infrastructure improvements.

House Highways & Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, testified that an infrastructure bank would have only limited impact on the current challenges facing the nation.

“In these tough economic times, we must look at new and innovative means to improve our nation’s deteriorating transportation system and an infrastructure bank is one small part of the solution,” he said.

DeFazio also stressed the creation of an infrastructure bank right now would not make any sense without a comprehensive multiyear reauthorization of the federal surface transportation programs.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Connecticut, testified regarding a bill she is sponsoring that would create an infrastructure bank.
“The bank would objectively review projects and provide financing for those of significance with clear economic, environmental, and social benefits,” she explained. DeLauro also underscored that her legislation, HR 2521, “is not a silver bullet, but rather an important way in which we can supplement other federal programs, which simply cannot make up for this infrastructure investment deficit without additional funds.”

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell also voiced strong support for a national infrastructure bank.

“We need a single entity that can leverage dollars from state and local governments or the private sector, can focus on projects of regional and national significance, will remove politics from the process, subject all requests to a benefit/cost analysis, and do all of this in the brightest of sunlight, openness, and transparency,” he said.

Villaraigosa Explains Effort to Accelerate Transit Construction

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa highlighted his own city’s 30/10 Initiative — which entails securing sufficient funds to speed up a 30-year transit plan so that it can be completed in just a decade –as an example of a project that could benefit from a national infrastructure bank. The 30/10 Initiative is being financed by Measure R, a half-cent sales tax approved by Los Angeles voters in 2008.

“As Congress continues its important focus on stimulating the U.S. economy, we believe an infrastructure bank or investment fund could play an important role in helping sponsors of major public transportation investments capitalize, literally and figuratively, on local revenue streams,” Villaraigosa said. “In this way, Congress could encourage state and local governments to invest in the transportation infrastructure that is essential to maintaining the competitiveness and sustainability of the U.S. in the 21st century and enable the federal government to leverage its resources strategically.”

Other witnesses included Samuel Staley, director of urban and land use policy for the nonprofit think tank Reason Foundation. He conceded that the creation of a national infrastructure bank is “an attractive option,” but also emphasized the need to closely monitor such an effort and keep its mission focused and clear.

Robert Puentes, director of the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Infrastructure Initiative, told the subcommittee “that while a national infrastructure bank is not a panacea, if appropriately designed and with sufficient political autonomy, it could improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of future federal infrastructure projects of national and regional importance.”
After the hearing, Rendell told reporters that Congress must consider the consequences of not raising revenue for infrastructure and allowing it to deteriorate further.

“The longer we wait, the more expensive it gets,” he said.

Statements from Neal and all of the witnesses, as well as archived videos from the hearing, are available at tinyurl.com/May-13-Hearing.

Questions regarding this article may be directed to [email protected].

I-85 tolling project draws fire (Atlanta Business Chronicle)

The State Transportation Board voted Thursday to delay the planned conversion of an HOV lane on Interstate 85 to a high occupancy toll lane amid criticism of the proposed tolling technology.

Board members pulled the project from the list of projects due to be let next month after being informed that the electronic transponders that will charge solo drivers using the HOT lane during rush hours are incompatible with transponders already in use on Georgia 400.

The I-85 project is being funded with a $110 million federal grant aimed at testing the viability of “congestion pricing,” which uses electronic tolling technology to vary tolls according to the time of day and the number of occupants in a vehicle.

“It’s a demonstration project,” Gerald Ross, deputy commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, told board members Thursday. “It comes with some unknowns. That’s why USDOT (the federal transportation department) provided the grant.”

But critics on the board questioned the state’s decision to accept the grant if it meant moving forward with incompatible tolling technology that will make it difficult to collect the I-85 toll from Georgia 400 commuters who already have transponders in their cars. The toll would apply to a 15-mile stretch of I-85 from Spaghetti Junction to Old Peachtree Road in Gwinnett County.

“You can call it a demonstration project if you want,” said board member David Doss of Rome. “I call it a waste of money.”

Ross agreed to work with the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA), the agency with direct jurisdiction over the project, to ensure that compatibility is built into the tolling technology after the initial demonstration phase. He said he would report back to the board next month on the issue.

SRTA awarded two contracts for the I-85 tolling project earlier this year.

The larger of the two contracts went to Texas-based Electronic Transaction Consultants Corp., while a smaller portion went to TransCore Inc. of Harrisburg, Pa.

Atlanta Business Chronicle – by Dave Williams Staff Writer
Read more: I-85 tolling project draws fire – Atlanta Business Chronicle
Thursday, May 20, 2010, 12:59pm EDT

Mobility Fund Update 5.21.2010

The Senate did not include the Governor’s proposed Mobility Fund in their budget. It is the Governor and NCDOT’s hope that the House will include it in their budget.

The Governor is holding a press conference on Monday, May 24th and has asked the League and the Metro Mayors to turn their folks out in support. We are asking all local elected officials to come Monday to Exit 290 off I-40 (Exit for Hwy 54, from Eastbound I-40) by 2:15 PM and show your support for the Mobility Fund.

As a refresher, the Governor proposed an NC Mobility Fund in her 2011 Budget which generates $300 million to fund projects of statewide significance. The sources of revenue include DMV related fee increases and the continued phasing out of the transfers from the Highway Fund and Highway Trust Fund to the General Fund. The Governor believes that critical congestion issues impact the entire state, our economy and our ability to maintain and attract jobs. All modes of transportation including highway, rail, aviation, ports, ferry, transit, bike and pedestrian would be eligible for funding. The first project to receive funding would be the Yadkin River Bridge during which time NCDOT would develop a prioritization process for future projects in collaboration with local governments, stakeholders, and the general public. The fund includes $30 million per year in dedicated interstate maintenance funds and $20 million per year for additional municipal Powell Bill funding.

The Metro Mayors have sent a letter to the General Assembly supporting the Fund. The League Board has voted in support of the concept.

What can you do to ensure this very important expansion of transportation funding and Powell Bill funding is enacted?

Call your House delegation members right away. Things are moving very fast in the House. Decisions on this fund will likely be made by Monday night if not sooner. Here are your talking points:

Need: North Carolina needs additional transportation resources that focus on mobility projects of statewide significance.

Solution: The Mobility Fund needs to be created this year, even if only with limited funding. Let’s get the Fund started.

Risk: Don’t just fix the Yadkin River Bridge without creating the Mobility Fund. Create the Fund and designate the Bridge as the first project.

Show members of the General Assembly that cities have confidence in NCDOT to build a prioritization process that will ensure the funds are spent on mobility projects of statewide significance. If you need to know more about the process NCDOT did over the last year call your Division Engineer and ask them more about it. Ask them about the fund.

The Governor has asked for our help in lobbying for the Mobility Fund. Please let me know if you reach out to your House delegation and what you hear back.

Click here for more on the Mobility Fund, talking points, the bill, etc.

Senate rolls out $19B spending plan (WRAL.com)

Less than a week after convening for the 2010 legislative session, the state Senate got its first look Tuesday at the nearly $19 billion budget proposal subcommittees have drafted in recent days.

The proposed budget, which is expected to come up for an initial vote on Wednesday, is $150 million less than the spending plan suggested last month by Gov. Beverly Perdue. It also marks the first time in four years that the Senate has come up with a budget below the $19 billion mark.

“This budget is not without pain, believe me,” said Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, co-chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “There is pain, but we are living in, as you know, unprecedented times.”

Although both Perdue and lawmakers profess support for education, key differences have emerged in their spending priorities.

Perdue, for example, called for pay raises for teachers and for repaying all state workers for furloughs and pay cuts they were forced to take a year ago to balance the 2008-09 budget. Neither item is in Senate Bill 897.

“The teachers I’ve talked to agree no one should get a pay increase if their colleagues might get laid off to pay for it,” said Sen. A.B. Swindell, D-Nash, co-chairman of the appropriations committee.

“We’ve done everything we can do to protect the classroom and to keep teachers in the classroom,” said Sen. Linda Garrou, D-Forsyth, co-chairwoman of the committee.

The Senate provides an extra $81 million for public schools, the University of North Carolina system and the community college system over Perdue’s proposal. It comes at the expense of deeper cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services and public safety operations, such as the Department of Correction and the state courts system.

“We would have liked to see more money for probation officers (in the Senate budget),” Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said. “We believe they need an increase in pay so they can retain and recruit good quality officers.”

Both the Senate and Perdue proposed tax credits for small businesses in their budgets. The Senate’s $47 million in credits would benefit an estimated 275,000 to 300,000 small businesses statewide, while the governor’s incentives are more targeted.

“The key is we not only protect existing jobs but we grow new jobs. That’s what the governor was trying to accomplish,” Pearson said.

Reporter: Bruce Mildwurf
Photographer: Terry Cantrell
Web Editor: Matthew Burns

Massachusetts Transportation Sells $1.1 Billion as Demand Rises (Business Week)

May 18 (Bloomberg) — Massachusetts’ Department of Transportation, which runs the oldest subway system in the U.S., is selling $1.1 billion in tax-exempt securities in the week’s second-biggest offering as demand for such debt rises amid bond market volatility.

Treasury 10-year notes yielded 3.49 percent yesterday and touched 3.26 percent on May 6, the lowest this year, as concern that the European Union’s $1 trillion rescue plan may fail to contain the region’s sovereign-debt crisis drove investors to the haven of U.S. government bonds. Top-rated, 10-year tax- exempt municipal yields held at 3.14 percent yesterday, the lowest since March, according to Municipal Market Advisors.

MassDOT, created last year in a merger of state agencies, is issuing $894 million in tax-exempt bonds to refinance debt from 1997, according to preliminary offering documents. The remainder, $207.7 million, will be offered as variable-rate demand obligations to match a swap agreement with UBS AG from 2008.

“With the volatility in the Treasuries market, it looks like more new issues are coming as tax-exempt,” said Guy Lebas, chief fixed-income strategist and economist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. A high municipal to Treasuries ratio “should stimulate some interest in some of the new deals.”

The ratio of 10-year tax-exempt municipal yields to equivalent-maturity Treasuries touched 88.927 percent last week, just below a five-month high of 93.345 percent reached May 7. The higher the ratio, the cheaper municipal bonds become relative to Treasuries, as they offer a near-comparable yield at a lower price.

Treasury Rally

“With Treasuries rallying in response to the flight to quality, in response to what’s going on in Europe, muni ratios got very, very cheap,” said Christine Todd, a managing director and head of the group that oversees $26 billion in tax-sensitive fixed-income portfolios at Standish Mellon Asset Management Co. in Boston.

MassDOT’s sale will help refinance securities sold more than a decade ago by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to help pay for Boston’s $15 billion “Big Dig,” the largest public works project in U.S. history. The subordinated bonds are secured by turnpike tolls and other revenue, such as state aid.

The sale comes after Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick dissolved the Turnpike Authority last year. Before the creation of MassDOT, Fitch Ratings had downgraded senior Big Dig bonds to as low as BBB+ in 2002, the third-lowest investment grade, and subordinate debt to BBB.

‘Incredible Feat’

“It is an incredible feat to come to this point and be able to close out,” said Karol Ostberg, director of capital finance at MassDOT in Boston. “Prior to the legislation, turnpike bonds were low-enough rated that they didn’t have market access.”

The bonds redeem serially from 2011 through 2027 and in 2032 and 2037, with the biggest amount coming due in the longest maturity. The debt is rated A+, the fifth-highest grade, by Fitch, one level lower, A, at Standard & Poor’s and A3, the seventh-highest grade, by Moody’s Investors Service.

The department last sold bonds in March. A tax-exempt security from that sale, maturing in 2035, was priced to yield 4.45 percent at the time of sale and traded with an average yield of 4.15 percent May 12. That’s 26 basis points below top- rated, 25-year tax-exempts, according to a daily survey by Concord, Massachusetts-based MMA.

Following are descriptions of pending sales of municipal bonds in the U.S.:

PENNSYLVANIA, the sixth-largest U.S. state by population, plans to sell $1 billion in general obligations in a competitive sale tomorrow, according to preliminary offering documents. The issue will include $548.9 million in Build America Bonds maturing serially from 2022 through 2030 and $451.1 million in tax-exempts maturing serially from 2011 through 2021. The securities, rated AA by S&P, will be used for construction and renovation projects, environmental preservation and to help improve sewage treatment systems. (Added May 17)

METROPOLITAN WASHINGTON AIRPORT AUTHORITY, which operates Ronald Reagan Washington National and Washington Dulles International airports near the nation’s capital, will offer $650 million in revenue bonds as soon as tomorrow. The sale, originally scheduled for last week, will occur after two delays because of market volatility, the authority said. The securities are part of $2.9 billion of debt the authority plans to issue to help fund an extension of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s rail system, according to S&P. Citigroup will market them to investors. (Updated May 18)

COLUMBUS-FRANKLIN COUNTY FINANCE AUTHORITY, home to Ohio’s capital, plans to sell $158 million in taxable revenue bonds today. The securities will mature semiannually from February 2015 through August 2021. Proceeds from the issue, rated AA- by S&P, will be deposited into a reserve fund and will help finance future capital needs, according to preliminary offering documents. RBC Capital Markets will market the issue to investors. (Updated May 18)

–Editors: Walid el-Gabry, Ted Bunker

To contact the reporter on this story: Catarina Saraiva in New York at [email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at [email protected]
May 18, 2010, 1:06 AM EDT