Yvette Shields

Illinois' unfunded pension tab improved slightly in 2022 because 2021 returns still play a role in the actuarial assessment through smoothed investment returns.

Minnesota raised its surplus projections by $6 billion Tuesday and Wisconsin last month added $2.7 billion to its surplus.

The RTA and its service boards are eyeing funding sources to avoid damaging service cuts and fare hikes as they exhaust federal COVID-19 pandemic relief.

Advocate Aurora Health and Atrium Health finalized their merger Friday.

Hospital fiscal wounds have mounted this year and the balance sheet damage is expected to extend into 2023 as labor pressures show little sign of easing.

The state will use surplus revenues to pay off the remaining $1.36 billion balance and will loan the trust another $450 million to bolster its health with repayment going toward the state's budget stabilization fund.

University of Chicago Medicine and City of Hope are borrowing through the IFA for acquisitions that expand their footprint

St. Louis will receive $250 million and St. Louis County gets $169 million under a deal to distribute the $790 million legal settlement with the National Football League Rams over its 2016 move to California.

The Nov. 8th ballot in Midwest states was crowded with bond, governance, and policy questions.

Fitch and S&P downgraded the city as it grapples with rising costs, limited revenue prospects and a looming pension funding spike.

Chicago's Sales Tax Securitization Corp. will sell $150 million of social bonds next month in the city's first ESG-labeled deal.

The merger talks between South Dakota-based Sanford Health and Minnesota-based Fairview Health are the not-for-profit sector's latest consolidation attempt.

Illinois raised its fiscal 2023 revenue estimates by $3.69 billion, giving Gov. J.B. Pritzker enough to propose doubling the state's $1 billion rainy day fund.

If it passes legal muster, Wisconsin counties will decide whether to participate in what would likely be the first securitization of opioid settlement payments.

The borrowing arm of the Missouri Department of Transportation will take competitive bids on $489 million of new money debt Tuesday.

"I was excited to take part in an industry that plays an integral role in developing public infrastructure," Nicole Pey said.

Both S&P Global Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency revised their outlooks for Chicago general obligation bonds to positive from stable.

S&P said the ProMedica's divestiture helps address operating losses but it's a longer road ahead to return to investment grade.

Chicago's upcoming general obligation sale will carry a Moody's rating for the first time since at least 2014.

Seven years after dropping Chicago to speculative grade citing pension funding, Moody's returned the city to investment grade, citing pension funding.