Yvette Shields

With no let-up in tensions over a budget impasse, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner told House Speaker Michael Madigan Wednesday to get behind his reintroduced policy and governance reforms or push through a tax hike on his own choosing.

Chicago and unions challenging its overhaul of the municipal and laborers’ pension funds square off in court Thursday with the city’s efforts to stabilize its rocky fiscal foundation at stake.

Illinois Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger plans an appeal of a court decision barring her from meeting the full state payroll without a fiscal 2016 in place, a decision that ups pressure on state leaders to resolve a budget impasse.

The Wisconsin Legislature was expected to take up a two-year, $70 billion budget Tuesday after majority Republicans resolved key sticking points within their caucuses.

Moody's Investors Service punished the highly rated Chicago area water district anew for its shared tax base with the city, county, and schools that are struggling under the weight of big pension burdens.

The Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities takes competitive bids June 8 on $150 million of general obligation bonds to fund parks, transit, and wastewater projects in the region.

Fitch Ratings affirmed Chicago's BBB-plus general obligation rating and removed it rating watch negative though the agency continues to assign a negative outlook.

Standard & Poor’s has dropped the Chicago Board of Education’s general obligation rating two levels to BBB and put it on CreditWatch negative.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Comptroller Leslie Geissler Munger want the state courts to provide more clarity on what can be paid without a fiscal 2016 budget in place, including whether the state can meet its payroll.

Chicago's junk paper offers an enticing opportunity, says one buyside professional who views the city's credit as being on the upswing with a long term solution to its pension woes within reach.

One day after scrambling to cover a $634 million teachers’ pension payment, Chicago and its public school system warned of the dire impact that looms if the state doesn’t either take over the district’s pension fund or cover a big share of the cash-strapped district’s contributions.

A one-month, $2.26 billion budget to fund essential services in Illinois amid an ongoing stalemate over a fiscal 2016 budget failed in the House Wednesday.

The Illinois General Assembly's Democratic majority will press ahead Wednesday with a vote on a $2.26 billion, one-month budget to fund essential services as the new fiscal year dawns with no end to a budget stalemate in sight.

Chicago and school officials plan Wednesday to lay out a comprehensive, long-term plan to address the pension and funding inequities for Illinois' schools.

Chicago Public Schools intends to make a $634 million pension payment due by the end of June 30, House Speaker Michael Madigan said.

Puerto Rico's insolvency is a game changer that will have a deep and far-reaching impact on the market, municipal professionals said Tuesday at a Bond Buyer conference in Chicago.

Illinois lawmakers convene Tuesday for a discussion on the impact of the partial government shutdown that looms due to a continuing budget impasse.

Clark Burrus, counsel to multiple Chicago mayors and mentor to countless public finance professionals, died this month. He was 86. He was remembered for both his financial and political acumen at funeral services last week.

Missouri budget director Linda Luebbering, who steered the state through recession while helping maintain its triple-A ratings, will retire August 6.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority is issuing up to $400 million of toll-backed revenue bonds next month, the first of two new-money borrowings to finance a record year of capital spending.