Yvette Shields

Ill. Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that lays the groundwork for Mayor Rahm Emanuel's plan to eventually eliminate healthcare subsidies for many retirees as the city seeks to shed a rising expense.

Milwaukee takes bids Tuesday on $62 million of taxable general obligation promissory notes that will put the city on a path toward reducing interest charges on its annual pension payments while eliminating volatility in the size of annual payments.

A round of cuts at Raymond James & Associates Inc. has claimed at least three veterans in the firm's underwriting, municipal research and strategist groups, sources said.

The head of a special Illinois legislative committee assigned to solve the state's pension quagmire said the group expected to take initial steps toward crafting a framework for a reform plan.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority plans to enter the market with a roughly $425 million fixed-rate refunding of toll-backed revenue bonds in a deal scaled down due to rising interest rates.

Kansas City, Mo., plans a roughly $200 million refunding that will allow the city to streamline the Kansas City International Airport's debt under a new master bond ordinance.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed into law a $68 billion, two-year budget Sunday that authorizes billions in new-money and refunding debt.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon moved to restrict $400 million of spending in the state's fiscal 2014 budget over concerns that lawmakers will override his veto of a tax cut.

Illinois ended fiscal 2013 Sunday with a bill backlog of $6.1 billion with the state making a $1.5 billion dent in its payables over the previous year.

A special Illinois legislative committee charged with solving the state's pension crisis meets again Wednesday after a hearing provided little indication of how it would accomplish its task.

Cook County, Ill. faces a projected $152 million shortfall next year, according to the preliminary 2014 budget released Thursday by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Chicago officials blamed state inaction on pension reform for Fitch Ratings' move to put the city's AA-minus general obligation and sales tax ratings on negative watch.

An Illinois committee tasked with crafting a pension overhaul holds its first public meeting, while the Gov. Pat Quinn says the state's $1.3 billion GO sales demonstrates the price of its bad credit ratings.

Illinois' weakened fiscal condition and battered ratings translate in steep borrowing penalties but won't lead to a default any time soon, a new academic research paper asserts.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence opened a forum aimed at luring private contractor and investment interest in a proposed $1.3 billion expressway linking the two states.

A pension reform plan endorsed by leaders of Illinois' public universities and touted as a potential model for an overhaul of the state's other funds received a hearing last week.

Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka has asked the state Attorney General to investigate Washington Park due to its failure to submit annual financial reports for the last seven years.

Standard & Poor's issued a AA-plus rating to St. Louis Metro transit system's new, combined sales tax lien ahead of a planned $375 million refunding.

The Illinois debt manager and finance team have met with more than 100 investors over the last week ahead of a $1.3 billion general obligation sale into a jittery market.

The Wisconsin Legislature Friday sent Gov. Scott Walker a two-year, $68 billion budget that cuts income taxes by $650 million and authorizes $1.8 billion in new bonding.