Yvette Shields

A Dane County judge last week struck down portions of Wisconsin's law limiting collective bargaining rights, finding that it violated the rights of union members.

Minnesota last week awarded $25 million in state bond grant funding to help build a new $54 million ballpark in St. Paul's Lowertown for the Saint Paul Saints baseball team.

Voters in Iowa's Johnston School District last week voted down a $51 million bond authorization that would have helped finance a new high school.

Illinois received 94 bids from 18 broker-dealers for $50 million of general obligation paper sold competitively last week.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster and local prosecutors announced the filing of criminal charges that includes securities fraud Tuesday against the former chief executive officer of Mamtek US., the company that abandoned a half-built bond-financed plant in Moberly.

Starved for capital funding, the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois unveiled a $2.5 billion borrowing proposal Friday that relies on projected growth in existing revenue streams and maintenance savings to repay.

Moody's says Chicago Public Schools' already strained balance sheet can ill afford the added burden of its first teachers strike in 25 years with the "magnitude" of the union's demands and disruption negatively pressuring the credit.

Chicago's proposed new use agreement with Midway International Airport's airlines calls for more than $1 billion in capital and maintenance spending over its 15-year term as the city continues to weigh whether to privatize operations.

The Illinois Finance Authority advanced more than $345 million in new-money and refunding issues for healthcare, higher education, and cultural institutions.

The State Iowa Board of Regents will take competitive bids Wednesday on $190 million of bonds that will more than double its healthcare system's debt load as it raises financing for a new children's hospital.

A Minnesota city that voted late last month to cancel its lease and financial support for a struggling sports complex paid a steep price for its action in the loss of its investment grade rating even though the city contends it was simply exercising its legal rights.

Wisconsin collected $127 million more of general purpose revenue in the last fiscal year than projected last May, according to new figures from the state's Department of Revenue.

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded Allina Health System's rating by one notch to Aa3 in recognition of its favorable fiscal performance.

Moody's Investors Service raised its rating by one notch to A1 on CentraCare Health System's debt due to the Minnesota-based system's strong financial performance.

While it may have relied heavily on one-time revenues to end political gridlock and strike a budget agreement last year, Minnesota maintains strong financial policies and has a solid track record of making timely budget adjustments as needed, Standard & Poor's said in a special report.

Illinois will take competitive bids Thursday on $50 million of general obligation bonds in its first sale of the new fiscal year that comes after the state's latest downgrade due to pressing fiscal challenges led by legislative gridlock on pension reforms.

Chicago Public Schools' teachers went on strike for the first time in 25 years Monday with market participants closely watching to assess the fiscal impact of an eventual resolution on the cash-strapped district while also gauging the national ramifications for governments facing labor strife and the November elections.

The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois has hired former Chicago revenue director Bea Reyna-Hickey as its CFO, filling the position left vacant by Grace Galluci's departure to run the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency.

St. Louis-based Ascension Health Alliance is advancing plans to acquire Oklahoma-based Marian Health System, the parent of three regional not-for-profit healthcare organizations in the mid and central states.

Iowa has formally landed Egyptian-based Orascom Construction Industries' proposed $1.4 billion nitrogen fertilizer plant which has filed an initial application to tap up to $1.2 billion of Midwestern Disaster Bond financing.