Wisconsin

Wisconsin is asking financial advisory firms interested in helping the state evaluate its assets for possible sale or lease to submit their qualifications by Nov. 1.

Milwaukee plans to take competitive bids Wednesday on $130 million of school cash flow notes but can delay the deal if too steep a penalty is demanded amid uncertainty driven by Congress.

Wisconsin got a rating from Kroll as it prepares a roughly $560 million general obligation refunding.

Wisconsin-based Meriter Hospital's steep losses at its affiliated for-profit health plan prompted Moody's Investors Service to downgrade its rating by one notch to A2 and the agency warned of further deterioration by assigning a negative outlook.

Rising interest rates and lagging economic growth sidelined borrowers in the Midwest where issuance dipped by 12% to $34 billion during the first half of 2013 compared to the same time last year.

Milwaukee County plans to sell $51 million of new money and refunding general airport revenue bonds for General Mitchell International Airport, but received a downgrade and worsened rating outlook.

Moody's Investors Service has raised Carroll University's rating one notch to BBB-plus in recognition of its positive operating performance.

Milwaukee takes bids Tuesday on $62 million of taxable general obligation promissory notes that will put the city on a path toward reducing interest charges on its annual pension payments while eliminating volatility in the size of annual payments.

The cities of Kaukauna and Oshkosh Wis. have announced they can redeem taxable direct-pay bonds because their redemption provisions were triggered by federal subsidy reductions that went into effect in March

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a $68 billion, two-year budget Sunday that authorizes billions in new-money and refunding debt.

The Wisconsin Legislature Friday sent Gov. Scott Walker a two-year, $68 billion budget that cuts income taxes by $650 million and authorizes $1.8 billion in new bonding.

Wisconsin's capital finance office is accepting qualifications through next week from underwriters interested in participating on negotiated sales over the next two years.

Moody's Investors Service has placed Meriter Hospital's A1 rating under review for downgrade as the system struggles with 2012 operating losses due to the Meriter Health Services' health insurance plan.

Ascension Health Alliance will make its first foray into the long-term taxable market this week when it sells $1 billion of refunding bonds in a mix of tax-exempt and taxable paper.

The Rockefeller Foundation selected eight cities to participate in the RE.Invest Initiative, a national effort to support sustainable infrastructure that includes financial advice on P3 options.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker reduced a proposed funding increase for the University of Wisconsin system in his proposed two-year budget by $94 million and recommended a tuition freeze.

A retirement party for Wisconsin's longtime capital finance director Frank Hoadley takes place Wednesday in Madison. Hoadley retired at the end of February after 25 years managing the state's debt issuance.

Moody's Investors Service lowered Ascension Health Alliance's rating one level to Aa2 ahead of the nation's largest not-for-profit healthcare system's upcoming sale of $980 billion of refunding bonds.

Wisconsin expects to collect an additional $575 million in tax revenue over three years under new projections that fueled calls for tax relief and more spending on education.

The University of Wisconsin has come under fire after the recent disclosure that it holds $648 million in reserves lawmakers had not previously known about.