Wisconsin

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Agnesian Health Care’s A3 rating while revising its outlook to positive from stable in recognition of its favorable operating margins.

CHICAGO - Wisconsin will take competitive bids Tuesday on $138.3 million of general obligation bonds, the first half of a new-money sale to fund capital and infrastructure projects, with the remaining $130 million piece planned for early next year.

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Indiana last week gave final approval to Menasha, Wis.'s $17.5 million settlement with bondholders that resolves litigation over the city's default on $23 million of appropriation-backed notes for its failed steam plant.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the Kenosha Unified School District's general obligation rating by one notch to A1 and warned of further action by assigning a negative outlook due to the Wisconsin district's fiscal strains.

The Milwaukee County Board last week overrode many of County Executive Chris Abele’s vetoes in the $1.2 billion 2012 budget.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker last week signed legislation creating the elected post of comptroller in Milwaukee County to manage debt, audits, and other fiscal manners.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded Manitowoc two notches to A1 from Aa2 and assigned a negative outlook due to its structural budget imbalance.

Wisconsin’s not-for-profit hospitals last year generated $28 billion in economic activity and provided $1.4 billion in community benefits, according to new studies.

Legislation advancing in the Wisconsin Legislature would authorize the creation of a Milwaukee County comptroller, an independent elected post charged with managing the county’s debt, audits and other fiscal issues.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party announced last week that the recall effort against Republican Gov. Scott Walker will launch on Nov. 15.

Wisconsin could finance much of an estimated $26.2 billion price tag for rebuilding and modernizing its currently free Interstate highway system by implementing tolls, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute

Moody's Investor Service has revised its outlook to positive from stable on Aspirus Wausau Hospital's A2 rating in recognition of strong operating profitability for a third consecutive year.

Moody’s Investors Service has revised its outlook to positive from stable on the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics’ A1 rating due to its improved fiscal performance.

CHICAGO - Wisconsin will enter the market as soon as Monday with roughly $250 million of general obligation refunding bonds for both traditional economic savings and to restructure debt coming due in November for budgetary relief.

CHICAGO - A federal appellate panel in Chicago last week delivered a mixed opinion in a dispute over whether a Wisconsin tribe is on the hook for repayment of $47 million of debt, upholding the district court's voiding of the bond indenture while overturning its refusal to consider other documents in an argument over the tribe's sovereign immunity.

Wisconsin-based law firm Michael Best & Friedrich LLP plans to renew its commitment to public finance with the hiring of 25-year industry veteran Charles D. Katz.

The Green Bay Packers have broken ground on the $130 million, privately financed renovation the team announced late last month for the publicly owned Lambeau Field.

CHICAGO - One day after being accused of fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission for its role in advising five Wisconsin school districts on a risky investment scheme, Stifel Financial Corp. said it has finalized an agreement to purchase $162.5 million of school district-supported notes from Depfa Bank Plc.

CHICAGO - Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and a former senior executive fraudulently misled five Wisconsin school districts by steering them into unsuitably risky and complex investment products to fund their non-pension retirement obligations, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged in a complaint filed Wednesday.

Wisconsin last week put $233 million back into its patient compensation fund, returning a controversial transfer that helped balance previous state budgets.