Midwest

Moody's Investors Service dropped its rating to Ba3 from Ba1 on Garden City Hospital's long-term debt and said it will maintain its negative outlook even at the lower rating level.

Fitch Ratings last week revised its outlook to negative on Kalamazoo while affirming its AA-plus rating on much of the city's outstanding bonds.

A committee of the Indianapolis Marion County City-County Council Wednesday approved Mayor Greg Ballard's plan to issue up to $98 million of bonds to support construction of a new Eli Lilly & Co. campus. The full council will consider the measure Feb. 28.

A hearing has been pushed back a week to March 1 on Chicago's motion asking a Cook County Circuit Court judge to dismiss a suit challenging the city's authority to proceed with $3.36 billion worth of expansion projects at O'Hare International Airport without airline approval.

CHICAGO — Menasha would pay holders of $23 million of defaulted steam-plant bond anticipation notes $17.5 million under a proposed cash settlement that would end bondholder litigation and put the Wisconsin city on a path towards rebuilding its credit.

The chances that Ambac Assurance Corp. will be able to keep $700 million of disputed tax refunds increased last week when a federal court in Wisconsin again threw out the Internal Revenue Service’s case against the bond insurer.

CHICAGO — New Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder presented a $45.9 billion all-funds fiscal 2012 budget that features $1.8 billion in cuts and what the governor dubbed a sweeping overhaul of the state’s tax structure.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn Wednesday unveiled a $53 billion fiscal 2012 budget that relies on a controversial $8.75 billion bond sale to pay off a huge backlog of bills bogging down the cash-strapped state.

CHICAGO — Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton unveiled a two-year, $64 billion spending plan that relies heavily on income tax increases to overcome a $6.2 billion shortfall.

CHICAGO — Illinois has postponed its $3.7 billion taxable general obligation bond sale scheduled for Thursday until next week to give investors time to digest Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget proposal Wednesday.