Yvette Shields

CHICAGO — The Minnesota attorney general’s office and lawyers representing state retirees in a lawsuit challenging legislation that curbed future increases in their pension benefits will return to court Tuesday to argue their sides.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has proposed a $1.12 billion capital budget for the next two-year budget cycle, down sharply from the $1.6 billion plan adopted two years ago.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Senate could vote as early as Wednesday on a revamped financing scheme, which includes a cigarette-tax hike that would allow the state to continue issuing bonds and keep a $31 billion capital budget on track ahead of a court decision on the original plan’s ­legality.

Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded the Piatt County Building Commission’s lease revenue rating one level to Aa3 due to its high reliance on corporate-replacement tax revenue, which declined by 30% between fiscal 2008 and 2010.

Illinois pension contributions and the repayment of pension-related debt will rise by $562 million in fiscal 2012 to $6.4 billion, according to an audit from state auditor general William Holland.

CHICAGO — In a deal brokered by federal authorities, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and officials from American Airlines and United Airlines announced an agreement Monday that allows the city to begin work on $1.17 billion worth of a remaining $3.36 billion of expansion projects at O’Hare International Airport.

CHICAGO — Minneapolis Tuesday will take competitive bids on $105 million of tax-exempt and taxable general obligation refunding bonds in an offering officials are hoping will attract strong interest from investors, given the rarity of its high-grade paper and the deal’s size and noncallable structure.

CHICAGO — Illinois’ tax revenues are on the rise, fueled by a recovering economy and an income-tax increase. But the state is still grappling with high unemployment even as exports rise and the non-manufacturing sector expands, according to a nonpartisan legislative commission’s new revenue and economic forecast.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was expected to quickly sign a controversial bill that sharply curtails the collective bargaining rights of most public employee unions and requires government employees to pay more towards their health care premiums and pensions.

CHICAGO — Memphis-based financial advisory firm ComCap Advisors, a division of Community Capital, is branching out for the first time from its Tennessee headquarters with the opening of a Chicago office.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Finance Authority board advanced borrowing plans Tuesday for three central Illinois hospitals seeking to refund debt or raise funds for new projects, including $400 million for the Carle Foundation’s overhaul of its Urbana campus.

Illinois Senate President John Cullerton on Monday floated the idea of taxing some retirement income as part of a possible revenue-neutral overhaul of state taxes.

Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel on Monday named 17 business and non-profit professionals to serve on his government and budget transition team to advise on policy and fiscal decisions.

CHICAGO — Trinity Health Credit Group’s plan to buy Loyola University Health System should bolster the latter’s fiscal standing, though analysts say it’s too early to tell what impact the acquisition will have on Trinity’s balance sheet.

CHICAGO — Fitch Ratings has stripped the Illinois Institute of Technology of its investment-grade rating and assigned a negative outlook to the school and its $190 million of outstanding revenue bonds, which were issued through the Illinois Finance Authority.

CHICAGO — A hearing set for next week on Chicago’s request that a Cook County Circuit Court judge dismiss an airline lawsuit that seeks to block $3.36 billion of expansion projects at O’Hare International Airport was pushed back a week as settlement negotiations continue.

CHICAGO — The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear Illinois’ appeal of a lower court decision invalidating the state’s $31 billion capital budget and the funding streams that support it.

CHICAGO — As Illinois lawmakers face mounting pressure to ease the strains of pension funding, a new report from Senate Democrats throws cold water on the idea of reducing future benefits for current employees, contending any legislative curbs would run afoul of the state’s constitution.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker toured the state Wednesday to promote his $59 billion budget proposal that would eliminate a $3.6 billion deficit with steep spending cuts that Democrats, school districts, and some local governments warned would strain budgets and hurt students, services and jobs.

CHICAGO — Freshman Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday unveiled a two-year $59 billion budget that exacts a toll on most areas of state spending, including public education, local government aid, and Medicaid to eliminate a $3.6 billion deficit without tax hikes and limited one-time maneuvers.