Caitlin Devitt

Indiana lawmakers and Gov. Mike Pence will begin negotiations on a final $30 billion, two-year budget this week with the deadline of hammering out a final spending plan by the end of the month.

A group of four city council members, including one from Cleveland, have asked the Ohio Attorney General to launch an investigation into the controversial bond-financed Prairie State Energy Campus that opened last year after cost overruns and delays.

Cook County's new CFO Ivan Samstein takes the helm as the nation's second-largest county continues to struggle with revenue declines and other challenges.

The board of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority approved a measure last week to issue $90 million of tax-exempt bonds to finance new headquarters for Cuyahoga County in downtown Cleveland.

Indiana last week reached financial close on a $700 million tax-exempt bond financing that finances the state's half of the $2.6 billion bi-state bridge project with Kentucky.

Cook County began imposing a $25 tax on all firearms starting Monday as part of the county’s 2013 budget.

Saginaw County, Mich. will become the first in the state to take advantage of a new law when it to comes to market next month with up to $75 million of pension obligation bonds.

Just days after Moody's boosted its outlook to positive, Fitch Ratings Tuesday upgraded Michigan to AA from AA-minus and Standard & Poor's lifted its outlook to positive from stable.

Detroit activists filed a federal lawsuit against the state's new emergency management law Thursday, the same day the new law took effect.

Moody's Investors Service boosted Aa2 Michigan's outlook to positive, saying the state is rebuilding its reserves and should be able to withstand pressure from troubled local governments.

Most non-profit hospitals are expected to find the 2% Medicare reimbursements cuts that take effect Monday manageable, Fitch Ratings says in a new report.

Moody's Investors Service last week confirmed its Baa3 rating on Memorial Healthcare and removed the rating from under review. The outlook is positive, Moody's said.

The Detroit Medical Center has dropped plans to build a $50 million outpatient facility in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak.

Michigan will likely have a federal health insurance exchange instead of a joint state-federal partnership after the state Senate last week recessed for spring break without meeting a federal deadline.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich is expected to sign into law a new two-year, $7.6 billion transportation budget that features as its centerpiece Kasich's proposal to issue debt backed by future turnpike tolls.

Detroit's new emergency manager began the job early Monday morning, meeting with the mayor and city council members and reiterating his agenda of tackling the city's debt, employee benefits, and city services.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson Friday traveled to Detroit to join local leaders in calling for mass civil disobedience against Michigan's takeover of Detroit and to announce a federal lawsuit expected to be filed next week.

A trio of Midwestern governors have proposed dramatic income-tax cuts — which could impact demand for their state bonds — but are meeting opposition from GOP-led state legislatures.

The Cook County, Ill. board of commissioners Wednesday unanimously approved the appointment of former ratings analyst and public finance banker Ivan Samstein to be the county's new CFO.

A new report from Michigan State University finds that Michigan cities and towns have a combined other post-employment benefit liability of $13.5 billion – with more than 40% of that owed by Detroit.