Wisconsin

Fitch Ratings recently downgraded Marshfield Clinic Health System, a nonprofit group of 11 hospitals in central Wisconsin, to BBB from BBB-plus.

Wisconsin and Minnesota have jointly received a $1.05 billion grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to replace the aging Blatnik Bridge.

The top five bond financings have an average dollar volume of more than $917 million.

The state of Wisconsin is embarking on a flurry of debt-related activity as the year begins, with a cash defeasance and three refunding deals on the table.

State bonds are a key part of the two-state plan to replace the aging Blatnik Bridge, but officials are also seeking more than $1 billion in federal grants.

A new deal with Microsoft may help fill the void left by the underperformance of a Wisconsin incentive deal to lure Foxconn to the village of Mount Pleasant.

Final responses are due by Dec. 8 from muni underwriters who want to be on Wisconsin sale syndicates.

The state reported a $7.07 billion budget balance and $1.8 billion in its rainy day fund.

The state in 2010 sold $1.5 billion of bonds backed by payments from a master settlement agreement with tobacco firms and used the proceeds to pay overdue bills.

A Wisconsin county has sold more than $200 million of bonds for broadband provider Bug Tussel to provide high-speed internet to rural customers in the state.