Midwest

The powerful nine-member financial advisory board that oversees Detroit's consent decree with Michigan undertook its first major action last week, approving $102 million of cuts proposed by Mayor Dave Bing.

The Michigan Supreme Court agreed last week to hear a simmering dispute over a ballot referendum to overturn the state's emergency manager law. The court set a date of July 25 for the hearing.

Moody's Investors Service earlier this month downgraded Chicago's $578 million of sales tax-backed bonds to Aa3 from Aa2, due primarily to a lack of legal separation between the pledged sales tax revenues and the city's general operations.

Fitch Ratings raised the Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group one notch to A in recognition of its consistently strong profitability and the completion of its new patient tower, eliminating construction risks on the credit.

Rising tax revenues helped Illinois chip away at the unpaid obligations on its books going into the new fiscal year July 1 but the number remained at a staggering $7.5 billion to $8 billion, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka reports.

Minneapolis-based Northland Securities Inc. has hired veteran municipal professional James Kubik to help lead its expansion in the central states region.

Indianapolis-based City Securities Corp. has hired former Raymond James/Morgan Keegan banker and group manager Linda Matkowski to manage its public finance banking team as the 86-year-old firm seeks to expand its reach deeper into the Midwest.

Illinois-based Hospital Sisters Services, Inc. is gearing up to sell more than $400 million of new-money and refunding bonds this fall as it undertakes various upgrades to existing facilities and opens a replacement critical access hospital.

With a $500 million new-money issue in the works, Moody's Investors slapped the Chicago Public Schools with a downgrade and warned of further negative action due to mounting fiscal challenges and the district's plan to dig deeply into reserves as a budget fix.

An Ingham County judge shot down the Detroit Corporation Counsel's motion to reconsider the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenging the city's consent decree with the state. The decision removes one hurdle from the path of a badly needed bond transaction for the city.