The Illinois Finance Authority board advanced up to $875 million worth of borrowing for health care and higher education organizations, including Ascension Health Alliance's sale of up to $600 million of new-money and refunding debt and $150 million from Loyola University of Chicago.

Despite legislative setbacks and an ongoing battle with a powerful Detroit family, the leaders of Michigan and Canada continue to tout as a top priority a new $4 billion bridge to span the nation's busiest trade route between Detroit and Canada.

Birmingham, Ala.-based Balch & Bingham LLP will expand its public finance practice next month with the addition of Presley Burton & Collier LLC.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission is selling $224 million of bonds to finance its payments to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which finances a variety of highway, bridge and transit capital projects.

Analysts gave the bonds a negative outlook based on projections that city leaders will have to draw down reserves over the next several years to cover police costs, but affirmed its AA rating based on the city's current reserve level.

Two of Texas' most congested cities — Houston and Austin — are moving forward with managed toll lane projects after identifying sources of funding from the Texas Department of Transportation.

The Build SA Now political action committee has recruited some of the 128 citizens who served on last year's bond advisory panels to be community advocates of the public works proposals.

Moody's Investors Service's new methodology for bonds backed by special tax revenues prompted it to put Chicago's Aa2 sales-tax-backed rating on review for a possible downgrade.

Chicago's Trinity Health, one of the nation's largest Catholic health care systems, will invest up to $150 million over the next five years as part of its acquisition of Michigan's Mercy Health System.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Northwest Community Hospital in suburban Chicago one notch to A2 following fiscal 2011 results that fell short of budgeted projections.

Cook County's pension fund has seen a 30% drop in its funded status over the last 10 years and without action will be insolvent by 2038, according to a new county analysis.

The Indianapolis office of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP announced last week that the firm has hired the former mayor of Evansville as counsel.

Indiana officials disclosed last week that an accounting error led to the withholding of $205 million in local option income tax revenue that should have gone to county governments.

Speakers include Minnesota state economist Tom Stinson; Rebecca Lawrence, chairwoman of SIFMA's muni legal advisory committee; Heather Johnston, executive board member of the Government Finance Officers Association; and Alan Polsky, chairman of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

A U.S. district judge ruled that Jefferson County's creditors could appeal a March ruling that the county meets the threshold to file for Chapter 9.

Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the general obligation rating of Buffalo, N.Y., to A1 from A2, the highest rating in the city’s history.

The tax-exempt market ended stronger for the third consecutive session as a double-digit rally on Monday carried over into a smaller rally on Tuesday.

Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday evening that the economy is still suffering from the financial crisis and talked about the ongoing efforts the Fed and its fellow financial regulators are making to prevent future crises.

"Over the past four years, the [FOMC's] highly accommodative policy has been successful at keeping demand close to productive capacity. ... I see no need for additional accommodation at this time, and I believe that conditions will warrant raising rates well before the end of 2014," the Minneapolis Fed President said.

Sales of merchant wholesalers were up 1.2% to $409.4 billion in February, while inventories rose 0.9%, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said it was concerned with a bullet train project's use of federal funds due to widely fluctuating cost estimates and allegations of conflicts of interest.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on Tuesday proposed rule changes that would eliminate some duplicative reporting requirements faced by underwriters of new-issue muni securities.