Yvette Shields

Investment banking firms have until Dec. 22 to submit qualifications to Wisconsin as the state prepares new underwriting and dealer pools for negotiated sales under its various bond programs.

Ferguson, Missouri’s rating has sunk further into speculative grade territory as the city’s struggle to recover from a controversial 2014 police shooting continues to batter its once healthy balance sheet.

Coralville, Iowa’s general obligation bond rating moved closer to speculative grade amid balance sheet struggles due in part to its investment in recreational enterprises.

The Illinois Finance Authority isn’t quite ready to sell a proposed $115 million state moral-obligation backed financing to speed up overdue payments for essential goods and services.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan suggested that recently expired income tax rates offer a good starting point in negotiations over the role of revenue in solving a roughly $5 billion budget deficit.

SwedishAmerican Hospital in Rockford, Ill. won an upgrade from Standard & Poor's and also received a positive outlook thanks to its nearly year-old affiliation with a stronger system.

Indiana will spend $70 million to expand lanes on a well-traveled stretch of Interstate 65 under a plan announced by Gov. Mike Pence.

Chicago is joining the Chicago Public Schools in delaying plans to sell general obligation debt until the New Year.

Contribution levels that fall short of actuarially required needs drove growth in the unfunded liabilities of a majority of 11 pension funds that cover Chicago area governments and local government employees throughout the state.

Women in Public Finance has chosen Carole Brown, a longtime Chicago-based public finance banker who became the city’s chief financial officer this year, to receive its founders’ award honoring lifetime achievement.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation that frees up $3 billion of funds, allowing the state to distribute motor fuel taxes, gambling, and emergency phone service revenues to local governments.

The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago’s proposed $1.21 billion budget has won a key endorsement.

The sales tax surcharge that financed improvements to the Green Bay Packers’ home -- Lambeau Field – has officially ended and about $18 million in surplus revenues are headed to local governments.

Key portions of a lawsuit filed by a group of Chicago retirees to block the city’s attempt to phase out their healthcare subsidies can proceed, a state court judge ruled.

Standard & Poor's raised St. Louis’s parking revenue bonds by one notch as the credit profile received a boost from a recent rate increase.

Improving operating margins helped win Missouri-based Mercy Health a stable outlook from Moody's Investors Service.

Minnesota’s coffers have surged to twice the previously projected balance, prompting a new round of debate over how to spend the extra funds with a focus on tax cuts, education, and transportation.

Moody’s Investors Service revised the outlook on its Baa3 rating of Roosevelt University in Chicago to negative as it struggles with enrollment loses.

Moody’s Investors Service has placed Indianapolis Public Schools Aa2 rating under review with its direction uncertain due to the lack of current financial information.

Motor fuel tax revenues and gambling tax funds owed to local governments in Illinois would begin flowing again under legislation advancing with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s support.