Ohio

CHICAGO — The Ohio Department of Transportation announced that it has formed a new division dedicated to ramping up the state's privatization efforts in an effort to lower costs and find new funding sources.

Hamilton County, Ohio, sold its public-safety hospital for $15 million in an effort to plug a chronic shortfall in the fund that runs the county's two main sports stadiums.

CHICAGO — Ohio comes to market Tuesday with $431 million of general obligation bonds after winning a rating-outlook boost from Moody's Investors Service.

CHICAGO — Ohio Gov. John Kasich Wednesday unveiled a $1.74 billion, two-year capital plan that would rely on $1.36 billion of general fund-backed bonds.

Faculty at Ohio State University last week voted against the administration’s plan to privatize its parking system.

A measure that would ask residents of Ohio to authorize $1.3 billion of bonds to finance clean energy efforts advanced in late February when the state attorney general approved the measure.

Officials in Columbus, Ohio, are hoping the city's gilt-edged ratings will stand out when they bring $212.5 million of general obligation refunding bonds to market for interest-rate savings.

Ohio will price two bond deals Wednesday and return to market next week with $118 million of capital appropriation bonds.

CHICAGO — Ohio's universities and community colleges have asked the state to approve $350 million for new capital projects.

CHICAGO — The Summit County Port Authority, one of six port authorities in Ohio, plans to significantly ramp up its bond financings to spur economic development across the northeast region of the state.

CHICAGO – School districts across Ohio, which have already suffered widespread downgrades during the last two years, will continue to face fiscal and rating pressures over the next few years, Fitch Ratings warns in a new report.

With tobacco consumption continuing to decline, Fitch Ratings last week downgraded $9 billion of tobacco bonds issued by Ohio and California after the two states were forced to draw on reserves to make their Dec. 1 payments.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich defended his push to privatize the Ohio Turnpike and called for the proposal's critics to "chill out" during his annual state of the state address Tuesday afternoon.

Local Democratic officials from northeast Ohio who are opposed to Gov. John Kasich’s proposal to lease the Ohio Turnpike said last week they would launch their own study of the privatization plan.

CHICAGO — Cleveland Hopkins International Airport will enter the market Wednesday with $241 million of airport system refunding bonds.

The Ohio Department of Transportation warned it was going to have to slice its budget and delay some projects by up to 20 years due to insufficient funds.

Ohio has reached an agreement to privatize its lucrative liquor distribution system for $1.4 billion through a newly created private nonprofit entity that will use the revenue for economic development.

Ohio will bring its first deal of the year to market next week, $174 million of general obligation bonds that will be used in part to finance the creation of high-paying technology jobs.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded to A3 from A2 the Metrohealth System in Ohio and revised the outlook to negative from stable.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed its Baa1 rating on UC Health and revised the outlook to positive from stable, saying that the newly reorganized system has exhibited recent improvements in operations.