Ohio

CHICAGO - The top-rated city of Columbus, Ohio, will enter the market Wednesday with $289.4 million of bonds, marking the city's annual outing to finance capital projects. Some of the proceeds also will be used for improvements to a site for a new casino.

Voters will get a chance to weigh in on one of Ohio’s most controversial new laws after opponents filed enough signatures to get the issue on the ballot.

Ohio said it expects to lay off nearly 1,000 workers as it prepares to privatize five of its prisons under Gov. John Kasich’s budget-balancing measure.

Standard & Poor’s last week revised its outlook to stable from negative on Ohio in light of the state’s recent economic stabilization and the structural balance achieved in its new two-year budget.

Moody's Investors Service last week affirmed Fairfield Medical Center's Baa2 rating and revised its outlook to stable from negative, citing its sustained operating improvements. The action affects $34.2 million of rated debt.

CHICAGO - Ohio will begin a retail order period Monday with institutional pricing scheduled for Tuesday for at least $416.7 million of general obligation refunding bonds.

CHICAGO - Fears expressed by some municipal market participants that cuts in state aid will spawn a wave of local government defaults are overblown, according to a new report by Nuveen Asset Management that examines 12 Cleveland-area issuers.

BRADENTON, Fla. - The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet on Monday filed a motion in federal court to intervene in a lawsuit that the agency believes could delay the long-planned Ohio River Bridges Project.

Cincinnati residents may vote on a new ticket tax this fall to help cover operating costs at two of the city's stadiums.

The Ohio School Facilities Commission last week approved $543 million of capital spending by 13 school districts.

CHICAGO — For the first time since 2006, Ohio is enjoying an increase in revenue collections.

CHICAGO — Cleveland has sued the Cleveland Clinic over its decision to close a hospital on the city's east side, arguing in part that the prestigious clinic's acceptance of tax-exempt funding from the state requires it to provide equitable services to the city.

CHICAGO - Ohio Gov. John Kasich Thursday night is expected to sign into law a $112 billion, two-year all-funds budget that closes a shortfall in part by selling the state’s liquor distribution system and six prisons while paving the way for the lease of the Ohio Turnpike.

A well-known anti-gambling veteran said last week that he would "sue everybody" tied to a recent deal between Ohio Gov. John Kasich and the developers of two new casinos in Cincinnati and Cleveland.

CHICAGO - Cincinnati is expected to enter the market Tuesday with about $80 million of unlimited-tax general obligation debt that is part of the city’s regular annual borrowing to finance capital projects.

Cleveland legislators Monday introduced a bill to create a jobs program modeled after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s federal Works Progress Administration.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service Thursday lowered its rating on Ohio-based Mercy Medical Center to its lowest investment-grade level — and revised its outlook to negative — warning that the facility is suffering from a sharp decline in its fiscal position.

The Columbus City Council Monday approved legislation that advances a plan for a $400 million casino based in the city.

CHICAGO — Ohio will enter the market four times over the next week with a spate of deals to finance economic development and job-creation projects.

The company building casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati halted construction last week amid an ongoing debate by Ohio Gov. John Kasich and lawmakers about a final gambling tax rate.