Midwest

Suzanne Shank has been chosen as chair of the 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference, the Detroit Regional Chamber announced.

State legislation that increases Milwaukee's revenue prospects falls short of what the city needs to manage rising pension and other costs, Fitch Ratings said.

"We are looking for parity with what's in Joliet contract. That is what would successfully allow us to work with the city of Chicago and that would make that alternative the preferred alternative over a new source water project," the commission's Paul May said.

To date, 332 of the 357 funds have transferred approximately $9.1 billion in assets to the consolidated fund, with most holdouts participating in the lawsuit.

All constitutional options need to be on the table, state Sen. Robert Martwick said, including fund consolidation, pension obligation bonds, new taxes and more.

"It's positive to see the proposed budget relies on fairly conservative revenue assumptions and provides additional funding for pensions and education," Molly Shellhorn, senior research analyst for municipals at Nuveen said.

A top advisor to Brandon Johnson said his administration is still waiting on the advice of incoming CFO Jill Jaworski and budget director Annette Guzman.

Nathan Flynn will focus on coverage of Midwest and Southeast borrowers and provide an assist on structuring and project financing more broadly, Siebert said.

The $2.6 billion infrastructure budget stands out as the state's largest ever; bond packages stalled in the previous two years amid political divisions.

Inflation joined supply chain struggles, wage pressures, and the labor shortage — most acutely felt with nursing staff — dragging down the sector's margins.