Yvette Shields

Cook County, Ill., commissioners signed off on a $4.9 billion 2017 budget that relies on spending cuts and a new sweetened beverage tax to erase red ink due in part to growing debt service and pension expenses.

Illinois lawmakers returned to the capital for the start of a six-day veto session that includes a possible vote on overhauling two Chicago pension funds and a hearing on shifting Chicago Public Schools governance to an elected school board. Little budget progress is expected.

A St. Louis redevelopment agency heads into the market as soon as this week with a $108 million issue to fund land and site costs supporting a new $1.75 billion facility for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.

Chicago Public Schools pulled the plug until 2017 on a $426 million bond sale originally planned this month, a decision that came as the district closed on a new cash flow borrowing.

Cook County, Ill., Board President Toni Preckwinkle cast the deciding vote on a sweetened beverage tax promoted as the best means to avert deep public safety and health spending cuts to close a budget gap.

The Chicago Park District paid a steep yield penalty for its Chicago ties on a recent sale although it managed to trim spreads from a 2015 issue.

The constitutional amendment passed by Illinois voters putting transportation related revenues in a lockbox was labeled by Moody's Investors Service as a negative credit factor for the state.

Chicago Public Schools fell further into junk territory with a downgrade to B from B-plus from S&P Global Ratings.

The picture for Illinois' state employee pensions has become bleaker, and the struggling state faces a $1 billion hike in contributions due next year.

CHICAGO – The junk-rated Chicago Public Schools will begin tapping $1 billion of Board of Education-approved new money and refunding borrowing authority in a deal expected as soon as next week.

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority took a four-notch rating blow because of worries that its state debt service appropriation is at risk due to continued state budget gridlock.

The results Thursday on an Illinois general obligation sale and a Chicago airport revenue-backed deal highlight the market’s diverse sentiments on the city and state’s paper and their respective security features.

The Chicago Board of Education will vote next month to revise its $5.4 billion fiscal 2017 budget to incorporate $55 million of added costs under a four-year labor contract ratified by teachers this week.

Chicago’s proposed $8.2 billion 2017 budget won the Civic Federation of Chicago’s endorsement in recognition of the city’s progress in tackling pension funding shortfalls and shedding poor financial practices.

A federal appellate panel dealt a setback Monday to the proposed merger of two Illinois based systems -- Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem.

Illinois heads back into the market Thursday with investors and analysts looking ahead to the Nov. 8 election because the outcome of legislative races could influence the state’s longstanding budget gridlock.

Illinois’ state capital took a two-notch credit blow over its growing pension burden.

Stand-alone Chicago-based Swedish Covenant Hospital was affirmed by one rating agency and dropped one notch to BBB by another ahead of its $120 million new money and refunding sale.

The not-for-profit healthcare sector is holding steady but may have peaked as persistent long-term challenges threaten to undercut gains that have bolstered margins, says S&P Global Ratings health care analyst J. Kevin Holloran.

The junk-rated Chicago Board of Education approved $840 million of new money borrowing backed by a citywide capital improvement tax levy and another $160 million of refunding bonds.