Illinois

After the passage of a $38.5 million budget for fiscal 2019, what’s next for Illinois? Yvette Shields, The Bond Buyer’s Midwest Bureau Chief, drills down to look at some of the problems the state still faces and the prognosis for the post-election atmosphere. Chip Barnett hosts.

An overhaul trimmed $7 billion from the fund's pension liability, but an $11.7 billion liability remains.

Municipal analysts see the holes in the spending plan, but secondary market traders reacted positively.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner and lawmakers acknowledged much work remains to be done to put the state on sounder fiscal footing.

They see aggressive assumptions and a failure to tackle long-term problems like pension underfunding.

Any change to the spending flexibility among governmental units that results from the court decision is likely to be incremental, according to Fitch.

Moody's Investors Service issued a sobering take on the state's liabilities as lawmakers celebrated passage of an on-time budget.

A settlement would free up some state-intercepted revenues for the city while sending some overdue contributions to the funds.

Gov. Bruce Rauner said he will sign the budget state lawmakers approved Thursday.

The legislation would empower the state treasurer to buy up to $2 billion in vouchers for bills the state has not paid.

What's in the next Illinois budget is more important to S&P Global Ratings than whether it is passed soon.

The outcome clearly places bondholders behind pension funds, according to Moody's Investors Service.

The rating agency said its new criteria only support a rating two notches higher than the state's BBB.

Harvey's revenue bondholders will get a piece of the city's intercepted revenues while the police fund has to wait.

The investment bank attributed the exit of 15 from the public finance team to market conditions and a strategic review.

Water, wastewater, and securitization deals, and possibly an O'Hare airport sale, are still to come from Chicago this year.

Harvey, Illinois, bondholders continue to get the city's home-rule taxes, but lose the city's share of state taxes.

The Chicago Fed National Activity Index rose to 0.34 in April from a revised 0.32 in March, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reported on Monday.

The Illinois city's revenue bondholders want any legal settlement to prioritize their claim over those of pension funds.

The district priced debt Thursday at narrower spreads than it faced in a November sale.