Yvette Shields

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, has introduced legislation seeking a constitutional amendment to require a three-fifths supermajority vote of the General Assembly for any future pension benefit increases.

Moody’s Investors Service has placed Springfield’s A1 senior-lien electric revenue bond rating under review for a downgrade due to a significant narrowing of the utility’s financial position that resulted in a debt covenant violation for fiscal 2012.

A bankruptcy court judge in Chicago will be asked next week to approve a $53.5 million cash offer to purchase the assets of the Clare at Water Tower continuing-care community in a deal that provides holders of the facility’s $229 million of debt with a recovery rate of at least 20 cents on the dollar, sources said.

Holders of $229 million of debt issued for a now-bankrupt upscale continuing care retirement community in downtown Chicago stand to recoup at least 20 cents on the dollar following a competitive auction Thursday among three bidders vying to purchase the facility's assets, according to a lawyer involved in the case.

CHICAGO — Two former Raymond James & Associates Chicago bankers have resigned to join Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. with the goal of bolstering the firm's business with big issuers in Illinois and complementing its Midwestern and national public finance practice as it seeks to expand its fixed-income business.

CHICAGO — Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the ratings on $2.4 billion of debt issued by eight Illinois public universities, taking the schools off watch list for a possible downgrade after a three-month review triggered by the state's downgrade and concerns over the schools' exposure to chronic delays in state aid.

CHICAGO — Moody's Investors Service has affirmed the ratings on $2.4 billion of debt issued by eight Illinois public universities, taking the schools off watch list for a possible downgrade after a three-month review triggered by the state's downgrade and concerns over the schools' exposure to chronic delays in state aid.

Minnesota Women in Public Finance will host its first annual meeting and conference on Thursday.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Northwest Community Hospital in suburban Chicago one notch to A2 following fiscal 2011 results that fell short of budgeted projections.

Chicago-based Mercy Health System formally joined Michigan-based Trinity Health last week.

Moody's Investors Service's new methodology for bonds backed by special tax revenues prompted it to put Chicago's Aa2 sales-tax-backed rating on review for a possible downgrade.

The Illinois Finance Authority board advanced up to $875 million worth of borrowing for health care and higher education organizations, including Ascension Health Alliance's sale of up to $600 million of new-money and refunding debt and $150 million from Loyola University of Chicago.

CHICAGO — The Federal Aviation Administration on Thursday granted Chicago's request to preserve its ability to pursue a privatization of Midway Airport under a federal pilot program until the end of the year.

CHICAGO — Milwaukee city and county voters chose new comptrollers last week, while those in a tornado-ravaged Missouri city approved bonding for school building projects, and St. Louis County voters approved new debt for courthouse projects.

CHICAGO — Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday hailed the consent decree approved a day earlier by the Detroit City Council, saying it would put the city on the path to fiscal stability after decades of struggle.

Illinois plans to hit the market in the coming months with $3.5 billion to $4 billion of borrowing in three deals.

The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority of Illinois has selected a finance team as it gears up to enter the market with a big refunding to take advantage of a favorable market.

A group of seven Illinois safety-net hospitals last week unveiled several measures they said could trim $1.4 billion from the state’s Medicaid expenses and eliminate the need for the deeper cuts that Gov. Pat Quinn has requested.

Moody’s Investors Service has signaled that the junk-level rating on MJH Education Assistance Illinois IV LLC’s student housing revenue bonds for the Fullerton Village Project has stabilized by revising the outlook to stable from negative on the senior-lien bonds.

The Illinois Coalition to Protect the Public Commons, a group that opposes public asset privatization, last week announced its concerns over Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s proposal to establish an infrastructure trust bank that would leverage private investment in public projects.