News and Information from Bond Buyer

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder says the Detroit schools can't move forward if burdened by their current "crushing" debt load. To that end, the governor wants to divide the Detroit school district into two entities.

Uncertainty about Louisiana's higher education funding led Standard & Poor's to place five institutions on negative CreditWatch on April 28.

Moody's Investors Service said it downgrades East Jefferson General Hospital, La.'s bond rating to Ba2 from Ba1 on $161.6 million of outstanding bonds issued by the Jefferson Parish Hospital Service District No. 2.

Jacksonville, Fla., will hire a forensic specialist to audit the city's severely underfunded Police and Fire Pension Fund.

Hoosier lawmakers went down to the wire Wednesday in crafting a new budget, passing a $31 billion, two-year budget just one minute before a midnight deadline.

Michael Milken, chairman of the Milken Institute, put a call-out to financial professionals to help solve California’s drought crisis and issues around climate change .

Late April riots that erupted in Baltimore have caused widespread financial damage, but the city is not expected to face any long-term credit impact from the unrest, according to analysts.

Moody's Investors Service has upgraded to Aa2 from Aa3 the rating on Freeborn County, Minn.'s general obligation unlimited tax debt.

Prices of top-rated municipal bonds were weaker at mid-session, according to traders, with yields on some maturities up by as much as five basis points on mixed economic data.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker halted the expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, questioning whether the project's economic impact could justify the state taking on an additional $1 billion in debt.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it raised its long-term and underlying ratings on Travis County Municipal Utility District No. 15, Texas' general obligation debt to BBB-plus from BBB.

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said it raised its long-term rating on Piqua City School District, Ohio's unlimited-tax general obligation bonds to AA-minus from A-plus.

The Treasury Department said Thursday it will auction $24 billion 91-day bills and $24 billion 182-day discount bills Monday.

Employment Cost Index Q4: +0.5% Q1: +0.6% Q1: +0.7% Initial Jobless Claims 4/18: 296,000 4/25: 290,000 4/25: 262,000 Continuing Claims 4/11: 2.327M 4/18: 2.300M 4/18: 2.253M Personal Income Feb.: +0.4% March: +0.3% March: unch Consumption Feb.: +0.2% March: +0.5% March: +0.4% Core PCE Prices Feb.: +0.1% March: +0.2% March: +0.1% Chicago PMI March: 46.3 April: 50.0 April: 52.3

Chicago’s CFO, Lois Scott, is promoting the city's new plan to take on $200 million of new debt to pay for canceling interest-rate swaps and to phase out debt restructurings.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers' Business Barometer climbed to 52.3 in April from 46.3 in March, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said Thursday.

The municipal bond market was awaiting the last of the week's larger deals to come to market, with a competitive sale from Massachusetts and the institutional pricing of a New York issuer on tap for Thursday.

The seasonally adjusted Milwaukee Report on Business decreased to 48.1 in April from 53.3 in March, the Institute for Supply Management-Milwaukee reported Tuesday.

The Midwest Economy Index slipped to 0.39 in March from a downwardly revised 0.44 in February, first reported as 0.49, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said Thursday.

Apr. 30, 2015 Southeast: Plain/Insured GO Yield Curve* State Ratings One-Year Five-Year 10-Year 30-Year Alabama Aa1/AA/AA+ 0.19 1.27 2.06 2.96 Florida Aa1/AAA/AAA 0.23 1.32 2.1 3.03 Georgia Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 1.22 1.96 2.86 Kentucky Aa2/AA+/AA+ 0.22 1.35 2.16 3.08 Louisiana Aa2/AA/AA 0.22 1.4 2.24 3.16 Mississippi Aa2/AA/AA+ 0.22 1.33 2.16 3.04 North Carolina Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 1.22 1.96 2.86 South Carolina Aaa/AA+/AAA 0.19 1.24 1.99 2.89 Tennessee Aaa/AA+/AAA 0.19 1.24 1.99 2.88 Virginia Aaa/AAA/AAA 0.19 1.21 1.94 2.84 West Virginia Aa1/AA/AA+ 0.22 1.3 2.07 3.01