Yvette Shields

The University of Chicago will offer up about $350 million of taxable and tax-exempt paper this week as it wraps up borrowing for the final phases of a $1.2 billion capital program and gears up for a new fundraising campaign.

For buyers, the allure of attractive yields, diversification, and liquidity drowned out the project risks tied to investing in the Iowa Fertilizer Co.'s $1.2 billion of junk-bond paper.

Making a major leap toward addressing the state's pension crisis, the Illinois House passed a wide ranging reform package Thursday aimed at slashing the unfunded liabilities and reining in rising annual payments that are straining the state's fiscal foundation.

The Illinois Senate took another stab at a major expansion of gambling on Wednesday, approving a bill that supporters say could pump as much as $1.2 billion of one-time money into state coffers and $250 million annually.

Illinois will take competitive bids next week on $300 million of taxable sales-tax backed bonds, with another $1.6 billion in new-money and refunding debt in the works.

A tax overhaul in Minnesota -- with infrastructure funding for the Mayo Clinic's plan to makeover its home city and a likely income tax increase to erase a deficit and generate more funding for schools -- is headed to a conference committee.

The University of Wisconsin has come under fire after the recent disclosure that it holds $648 million in reserves lawmakers had not previously known about.

Monsanto Co., the agricultural biotechnology corporation, last week announced plans for a $400 million expansion of its research facility in Chesterfield just outside St. Louis.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the city of Hayfield's general obligation rating by three notches to the lowest investment grade level.

Chicago settled a legal dispute with the private operators of its parking meter system over lost revenue in an agreement that modifies the much maligned lease and could save the city as much as $1 billion over the next seven decades.

Several Kansas City Missouri business owners behind a lawsuit challenging the legality of the funding mechanism for the city's proposed $102 million downtown streetcar filed an appeal of the district court's dismissal.

Indiana lawmakers were poised Friday to approve a two-year, $30 billion budget that provides $1.1 billion in tax relief over the next four years through a series of tax cuts that includes a 5% drop in the income tax.

The Iowa Fertilizer Co. expects to offer next week nearly $1.2 billion of tax-exempt, junk-rated Midwestern Disaster Area Bonds to finance a new nitrogen fertilizer plant in southeast Iowa.

After scaling back on capital projects, Chicago Public Schools reversed course to bolster spending by $364 million in part to finance investments in schools slated to take students from more than 50 set to close.

At least 11 small Wisconsin cities -- who approached the federal government's Build America Bond program with a skeptical eye and stuck with flexible redemption provisions – may act on their options due to federal subsidy cuts.

Standard & Poor's raised DePaul University's issuer credit rating by one notch to A in recognition of its strong operating performance and overall growth.

Perri Irmer, the former executive director of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, is accusing the former board chairman and the Chicago White Sox owner of improperly ousting her from the position in a federal lawsuit.

Milwaukee will take competitive bids on $200 million of notes and bonds Tuesday to raise funds to smooth out cash flow and finance capital projects.

CHICAGO – The St. Paul Port Authority, Minn. expects roughly 20% in present value savings on Tuesday’s planned $117 million current refunding of lease revenue bonds supported by a state appropriation pledge.

The trustee for $113 million of bonds issued for a privately owned and operated airport at Branson, Mo. are negotiating possible modifications to a forbearance agreement for the struggling airport.