Michigan

Plainwell Community Schools has sued Michigan after the state refused to sign off on a privately placed bond sale that would allow the district to pay off a state loan and generate interest-rate savings.

Moody's Investors Service cut its underlying rating on Dewitt Public Schools, Mich. to A1 from Aa3.

Gov. Rick Snyder Monday appointed long-time municipal finance veteran John Axe to the Michigan Judges Retirement System Board.

Two of Michigan's largest providers Wednesday announced plans to merge to create a new $6.4 billion system, joining the growing number of providers nationally who are hoping to consolidate.

Voters across Midwestern states face a slew of tax, spending, and bond referendum along with policy questions that pack a fiscal punch including whether Michigan's emergency management should be preserved and the state's ability to raise taxes limited.

Standard & Poor’s said the announcement of a proposed merger between health care giants Trinity Health and Catholic Health East does not affect their credit ratings yet, but that a consolidation would likely result in a credit with a weaker rating than Trinity’s AA rating.

Wyoming, Mich.-based Metro Health is seeking a strategic partner for a merger to help navigate changes in the health care industry.

Michigan officials Monday opted to push back by two weeks a $100M general obligation bond sale amid market disruption from Hurricane Sandy. The sale, which was set to price competitively Wednesday Oct. 31, will now sell Nov. 15, officials said.

Crittenton Hospital, in an affluent suburb of Detroit, comes to market Tuesday with $108M of new-money and refunding bonds.

Michigan officials Thursday named Joyce Parker as emergency manager of Allen Park, the latest city to be taken over by the state for fiscal distress.

Governing magazine last week named Michigan budget director John Nixon as one of seven Public Officials of the Year in recognition of bringing down the state’s chronic deficits and other efforts.

Michigan's Trinity and Pennsylvania's CHE would create one of the nation's largest Catholic health care sytems spanning 21 states if their newly announced plan to merge goes ahead.

Moody's said Monday it is continuing its review for possible downgrade on Detroit amid uncertainty surrounding the future of the state's emergency management law.

A report out this week estimates Michigan could save nearly $1 billion if it participates in the Medicaid expansion provision that is part of the new federal health care law.

Standard & Poor's last week revised its outlook to negative from stable on the Henry Ford Health System, one of Michigan's largest providers, while affirming its A rating.

Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon, in New York with Gov. Rick Snyder and Budget Director John Nixon to meet with rating agencies, talks with the Bond Buyer about what it will mean for the state if its controversial emergency management law is overturned.

Moody's Investors Service last week knocked its rating on Michigan's Pinckney Community School District down four notches, to Baa1 from Aa3, and affirmed the negative outlook.

The Michigan state lottery saw record sales in fiscal 2012, contributing $770 million to the school aid fund, officials said last week.

Gov. Rick Snyder Tuesday formally declared the Detroit suburb of Allen Park to be in a state of fiscal emergency after denying the city's appeal two weeks ago. The city's problems are tied largely to a $31 million 2009 bond issue floated for a now-failed film studio.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Monday signed the final, supplemental spending pieces of the fiscal 2013 budget.