Yvette Shields

Minnesota raised its projected budget surplus by $400 million to $1.2 billion on Friday providing the state's Democrat-Farmer-Labor Party leaders with room to spend more, bolster reserves and trim taxes in the new legislative session.

Chicago may share some of the same fiscal ills – from large pension burdens to budget deficits -- as bankrupt Detroit but they differ sharply when it comes to overall credit quality, Standard & Poor's stresses in a report released Thursday.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, in his first state of the city address, said the foundation has been laid for Detroit's revitalization as it moves through its historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy.

Standard & Poor's affirmed ratings and removed from CreditWatch Detroit's distributable state aid bonds issued in 2010 and 2012 through the Michigan Finance Authority.

Chicago will hold on to its A-plus rating from Standard & Poor's rating as it heads to market with a $400 million general obligation sale, its first since being hit with triple-notch downgrades last year by Fitch Ratings and Moody's Investors Service over its pension crisis.

Two Cincinnati-based law firms -- Dinsmore & Shohl LLP and Peck Shaffer & Williams LLP – will merge effective March 1, the firms announced with the Dinsmore name carrying on.

The Kansas City, Mo. City council has approved a measure that requires any plan that calls for the demolition and reconstruction of terminals at city-owned airports to go to voters.

A proposed settlement between Monticello, Minn., and investors holding its defaulted $26.4 million of telecommunication revenue bonds is advancing with the filing of a new class action bondholder lawsuit that is considered part of the settlement process.

A.T. Still University of Health Sciences in Missouri received a first time rating of A3 from Moody's Investors Service.

The Wisconsin Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee approved along party lines a $500 million tax cut package last week.

Budget season in Illinois kicked into gear this week with Democrats and Republicans trading barbs over the shape of the next budget and the how the state should deal with an projected $3 billion deficit due to the looming rollback of an income tax hike.

Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois board chairman John Gates announced Wednesday he would step down from the post at the end of his term in June.

The public district managing the $380 million renovation of the St. Louis Gateway Arch grounds is selling $56 million of sales tax appropriation bonds for the makeover project.

Lawyers for Detroit told the bankruptcy court Wednesday the city plans to file a motion proposing a new swaps settlement with UBS and Bank of America in the next three to four days.

Wisconsin has decided to expand its use of Kroll Bond Ratings Agency from its general obligation credit to include its master lease certificates of participation ahead of a $37 million sale set for Wednesday.

Seeking to lock in savings offered in the current market, Wisconsin took a step into new terrain last month by entering into a loan agreement with JPMorgan that will refund $278 million of debt next year.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has adopted a 20-year construction program to meet a federal planning mandate but warned it can't really afford the plan amid dwindling funding.

Minneapolis priced $60 million of taxable general obligation bonds for its contribution to a financing package for the Downtown East development project adjacent to the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn unveiled the draft of a five-year plan to overhaul its Medicaid program in hopes of snaring $5.2 billion in additional federal funding.

Jones Day's Chicago-based not-for-profit and healthcare group have left en masse to join Chicago-based Chapman and Cutler LLP in a move that marks a return home for eight of the nine lawyers that made the leap.