Yvette Shields

CHICAGO - The Illinois Finance Authority board this week approved Novi, Mich.-based Trinity Health Corp.'s issue of up to $600 million tied to its acquisition of Loyola University Health System in suburban Chicago, and advanced a Midwestern disaster area revenue bond issue for Cargill Inc.

CHICAGO - Illinois wrapped up its election of new underwriting, financial advisory and bond counsel pools this week, significantly expanding to 25 the number of firms qualified to serve in the top spot on the state's negotiated sales while narrowing its bond counsel to one: Mayer Brown.

Minnesota Housing Finance Agency deputy commissioner and chief financial officer Patricia Hippe is moving on to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority next month.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak this week proposed a 2012 budget that cuts spending and jobs to hold the city’s property tax levy steady while increasing debt issuance for street improvements.

Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the Winterset Community School District’s rating by one notch to A2 due to a narrow but improving financial position. The action affects $18 million of outstanding general obligation debt.

Chicago-based Mercy Hospital is discussing some form of a union with Novi, Mich.-based Trinity Health Corp., according to published reports.

Illinois has selected Mayer Brown from among 18 law firms that submitted proposals to work as the state’s bond and disclosure counsel for the next two years.

CHICAGO - A federal appellate panel in Chicago last week delivered a mixed opinion in a dispute over whether a Wisconsin tribe is on the hook for repayment of $47 million of debt, upholding the district court's voiding of the bond indenture while overturning its refusal to consider other documents in an argument over the tribe's sovereign immunity.

CHICAGO - Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday announced plans to shutter seven state facilities and lay off 1,900 employees to save $313 million, blaming the action on lawmakers' failure to approve adequate funding in the $33 billion fiscal 2012 general fund budget to fully support state spending.

CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Thursday introduced to the City Council ordinances seeking approval for up to $500 million of general obligation bonds and the authority to refund up to $250 million of sales tax revenue bonds.

CHICAGO - With its triple-A general obligation ratings intact, Missouri will take competitive bids next week on $146 million of special obligation refunding bonds to generate present-value savings and to complete a restructuring aimed at providing budgetary relief in fiscal 2012 and 2013.

CHICAGO - Minnesota has selected Barclays Capital to lead a team of eight underwriting firms that will bring the state's first ever tobacco bond sale to market this fall.

The Green Bay Packers have broken ground on the $130 million, privately financed renovation the team announced late last month for the publicly owned Lambeau Field.

A mayoral task force on tax-increment financing reform in Chicago has recommended greater oversight of private subsidies in TIF districts and the development of a multi-year economic development plan to better judge the value of projects.

The Chicago Board of Education last week unanimously approved a new $5.9 billion budget that eliminates a $712 million deficit through cuts, use of reserves, and a property tax hike.

CHICAGO - With its appointment as bond counsel on Minnesota's upcoming tobacco and general obligation bond sales still fresh, Omaha, Neb.-based Kutak Rock LLP has expanded its physical reach into the state with the opening of an office staffed with two veteran public finance attorneys.

Minnesota’s general obligation offering statements have long opened with the line, “In the opinion of Dorsey & Whitney LLP” — whose namesake Arthur B. Whitney Jr. helped revise the state constitution to allow GO bond issuance. That decades-long tradition will end with the state’s next sale.

CHICAGO — The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board Thursday approved a $12 billion, 15-year capital program that relies on a steep increase in passenger tolls to repay $4.8 billion in borrowing and raise cash to maintain and expand its existing 286-mile system.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn this week signed legislation that paves the way for the state's future use of public-private partnerships to finance transportation projects, a change supporters hope will jump-start proposed projects that lack public funding.

CHICAGO — Chicago and the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority filed lawsuits Tuesday against the cities of Kankakee and Channahon for their roles in tax-sharing agreements with retail companies that allow them to avoid collecting the Chicago area's higher sales tax rates.