Yvette Shields

An influential Chicago area planning agency will press state lawmakers to establish a regional infrastructure fund supported by a quarter-cent sales tax increase with its eye on financing transportation, water, and open space projects.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded McLean County School District Number 87 in Bloomington, Ill. one notch to Aa2 as it prepares to come to market with a $20 million new money and refunding issue.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Iowa-based Algona Municipal Utility's electric revenue bonds by one level to Baa1 over its fiscal struggles.

The fall meeting of the Municipal CFO Forum slated for Thursday and Friday in Chicago will focus on "financial communications."

Bruce Cole, the head of Mamtek USA, the firm that triggered Moberly, Missouri's default on $39 million of municipal bonds sold for a failed sucralose plant, received a seven year prison sentence for theft and securities fraud.

New Trier Township High School District 203's board of education will discuss borrowing plans at a meeting next week following voter approval for an $89 million bonding referendum for renovations to its Winnetka, Ill. campus.

The Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission won upgrades from two rating agencies for its debt issued for the Plum Point coal-fired power plant ahead of a planned $200 million refunding.

Illinois' unfunded pension obligations rose $11 billion in fiscal 2014, bringing the state's total tab to $111.2 billion while the state's contributions in fiscal 2016 will rise by $682 million, according to figures compiled by the Civic Federation of Chicago's Institute for Illinois Fiscal Sustainability.

Illinois Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner urged state lawmakers not to make any major legislative decisions until he is sworn into office along with a new General Assembly.

The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools' proposal to use $17 million in social impact bonding to expand an early education program.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has tapped to civic leaders to lead a review of stadium options aimed at keeping to the National Football League's Rams in St. Louis.

Chicago Treasurer Stephanie Neely will join Allstate as a vice president, treasury, responsible for the firm's strategic direction and management of liquidity, capital, ratings and corporate structure issues.

Illinois governor-elect Bruce Rauner will take the helm of a state struggling with battered credit ratings, massive unfunded pension obligations, and an unbalanced budget.

Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Services Inc. will refund $180 million of bonds Wednesday shedding some of its floating rate exposure.

Monticello, Minn., will borrow $6.5 million to fund a settlement with holders of $26.4 million of defaulted telecommunication revenue bonds as the city seeks to turn the page from a failed deal that prompted investor accusations of fraud.

Missouri-based Mercy Health will sell $355 million of revenue bonds as soon as Tuesday to cover the costs of various projects including the ongoing construction of a replacement hospital for one destroyed by the May 2011 Joplin tornado.

Chicago’s practice of pushing off debt service for cash flow relief and pressures from a looming $550 million spike in public safety pension payments undercut the city’s advances in structurally balancing its budget, the Civic Federation of Chicago wrote.

The University of Missouri Curators sold $150 million of new-money taxable bonds Monday with tentative plans to return the market next year to fund another $100 million in approved projects.

Wisconsin will refund $132 million of transportation revenue bonds on Thursday, two days after state voters cast a decision on a proposed constitutional amendment that would bar future raids on the state's transportation fund for other expenses.

A foreign company has selected Illinois as the site of its planned $1.4 billion fertilizer plant with the help of some local and state financial incentives.