Caitlin Devitt

CHICAGO — Revenue may be down but capital needs remain, prompting more governments to partner with each other to finance infrastructure projects, according to panelists Tuesday at the Bond Buyer’s Midwest Public Finance Conference.

Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed its A2 rating on Kettering Health Network’s $41 million of bonds but revised its outlook to negative from stable, warning that planned debt sales could pressure the system’s balance sheet.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing met with Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and legislators last week to push a deficit-elimination plan that hinges on the passage of new state laws.

Moody’s Investors Service revised its outlook to stable from negative and affirmed its A2 rating on Oakwood Healthcare Inc., a multi-hospital system headquartered in Dearborn.

A group that includes influential members of Indianapolis’ political and business community has floated a proposal that could lead to mayoral control of the city’s school system.

CHICAGO — Indiana legislators last week passed a $28 billion two-year general fund budget and several bond-related bills but failed to pass a controversial measure allowing fiscally distressed municipalities to file for bankruptcy.

CHICAGO — North Dakota legislators last week approved a fiscal 2012-13 $9.9 billion budget that reflects the state’s flush position, featuring $500 million of tax cuts, nearly $1 billion of infrastructure projects financed with cash, and $1 billion of reserves. For the third biennium in a row, the budget includes no borrowing.

CHICAGO — Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson warned this week that the loss of state funding directed to local governments in Gov. John Kasich’s proposed 2012-2013 budget would force him to lay off up to 7% of the city’s workforce and would devastate Ohio’s largest cities.

CHICAGO — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder warned Wednesday that 23 school districts across the state, most clustered around the Detroit area, qualify for a state takeover under its new emergency financial management law.

CHICAGO — The political landscape of fiscally stressed governments is an increasingly important factor as analysts assess a credit’s risk, a panel of municipal analysts said in here last week.

CHICAGO — Two weeks after it hit Cleveland with a credit downgrade, Fitch Ratings has cut the rating on $835 million of bonds issued for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport to A-minus from A.

CHICAGO — Standard & Poor’s boosted the issuer credit rating of South Dakota to AA-plus from AA, citing the state’s strong reserves and low long-term debts.

The Ohio Building Authority captured an interest rate of 3.57% on its April 19 sale of $15 million of lease-revenue bonds. Proceeds will finance capital projects related to juvenile correctional facilities run by the Ohio Department of Youth Services.

Michigan is expected to report that it will collect roughly $500 million in surplus revenue when fiscal officials release updated revenue projections on May 16.

Indiana lawmakers will debate whether to allow municipalities to enter into bankruptcy as they hammer out final differences to a bill passed by both chambers but stripped of the Chapter 9 option by the House.

CHICAGO — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is floating a draft bill to advance a controversial and long-stalled $3.8 billion, partially bond-financed bridge spanning the busy trade route between Detroit and Canada.

CHICAGO — Detroit’s two pension funds late Monday filed a lawsuit against Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Treasurer Andy Dillon over the state’s controversial emergency financial management law.

CHICAGO — A failed film studio project touted by a Hollywood producer has left a Detroit suburb struggling to cover payments on $31 million of bonds that have sparked an informal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The long-time director of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority is retiring, just weeks after Gov. John Kasich released a budget proposal that would remove most of the authority’s responsibilities and nearly all of its budget.

The board of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo approved a request to issue up to $70 million of revenue bonds to finance capital projects.