Yvette Shields

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon unveiled a proposed $25.9 billion budget for fiscal 2014 that bolsters education spending and provides a conditional endorsement of new borrowing if funds are carved out to repay it.

Wisconsin is readying up to $246 million of transportation revenue bonds as lawmakers tackle an agenda that includes funding for the state's pressing transportation needs.

Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on St. Louis-based St. Anthony's Medical Center's A-plus rating to negative from stable due to operating losses.

Unions that represent state employees want Gov. Pat Quinn and the General Assembly's leaders to join in on a "summit" slated for Feb. 11 to discuss pension reforms.

Chicago collected more than $100 million in hotel taxes last year, a record level, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said last week.

Rating agencies delivered mixed news to Illinois Friday as the state's failure to overhaul its pension system prompted a downgrade from Standard & Poor's while Moody's affirmed.

Missouri lawmakers pushing for a new state building bond program are banking on favorable interest rates, the state's solid triple-A rating, low debt levels, and the need for jobs to win support this year.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board approved two slates of financial teams to underwrite roughly $1 billion of toll-backed borrowing planned in its next two financings.

Milwaukee County will price $140 million of taxable general obligation pension promissory notes Thursday to retire notes from a 2009 pension issue ahead of their bullet maturity at the end of the year.

Two hospitals in Chicago's western suburbs — Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare and Edward Hospital & Health Services — are the latest to merge, joining the two-year-old surge nationally of not-for-profit healthcare consolidation.

Illinois' $500 million sale next week offers a fresh view into the market's appetite for yield verses risk as investors digest a barrage of negative fiscal news from pension reform stuck in political muck to a warning that state coffers are running precariously low.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton wants to overhaul the state's tax code, lowering but broadening the sales tax and raising income tax rates on top earners in his proposed $37.8 billion two-year budget.

Fitch Ratings last week downgraded the Howard Bend Levee District two notches to the lowest investment grade level rating.

Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts unveiled a $300 million privately-financed renovation of the nearly 100-year-old Wrigley Field that could be paid for with new premium seating and additional advertising signage revenues, along with more night games and concerts.

The FAA has cleared the path for Chicago to consider privatizing Midway International Airport, allowing for its release of a request for qualifications from potential bidders.

Illinois will take competitive bids on $500 million of GOs later this month in its first borrowing of the New Year and first test of market reaction to the General Assembly's failure to overhaul pensions.

The Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois board approved its $3.7 billion 2013 budget on Wednesday after resolving a standoff with one of its service boards over its plans to borrow $1 billion over the next five years.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad unveiled a proposed $6.5 billion fiscal 2014 budget that offers property tax relief he said the state can afford with an $800 million surplus after several years of belt-tightening.

A long-awaited review of the state of Chicago's retiree healthcare system concludes that the cash-strapped city can't afford to keep subsidizing its other post-employment benefits at existing levels.

Standard & Poor's last week raised the Chicago Housing Authority's issuer credit rating one notch to AA following criteria changes.