Yvette Shields

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.

With a healthy surplus built over several years, the state adopted a series of tax relief measures. Those actions, along with robust growth in fiscal 2022 that triggered an automatic tax cut, are driving revenue projections lower.

With hotel taxes unlikely to keep pace with debt service , the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is eyeing a restructuring to extend final bond maturity.

Harvey and its advisors are in the process of notifying holders of its defaulted 2002 and 2007 bonds of its upcoming exchange offer.

The legislation impacts Chicago fire pensions, but it's stirring debate over costly fixes needed statewide to avoid running afoul of Social Security rules.

The county began exploring a new facility eight years ago. Studies concluded the current facility was ill-equipped to deal with overcrowding, in poor physical condition and its design fell short of current standards.

The system's turnaround efforts include using proceeds of a proposed $710 million deal to sell hospice and home health assets to pay off direct placement debt.

Illinois trimmed revenue estimates for the current fiscal year and must absorb higher social services expenses next year leaving less budget room to maneuver.

The choice of PFM's Jill Jaworski for the CFO position drew praise from the outgoing CFO and market participants who are watching closely to see whether the city stays on track with fiscal progress that has drawn more than a dozen rating upgrades across credits.

Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson hopes to make an announcement on the CFO post before taking office Monday.

The acrimonious relationship between the university and its private partner has spilled into the courts and underscores that P3 deals don't remove all risks.

The city north of Detroit says it can't afford to make good on a $24 million debt owed to the Great Lakes Water Authority and in the absence of state help has raised state-approved bankruptcy as an option.