Illinois

The University of Illinois is preparing to refund $116 million while highlighting for investors what it describes as diverse revenues and growing enrollment that have lessened the strains of coping with the state’s budget mess.

The Chicago City Council signed off Wednesday on up to $3.5 billion of O’Hare International Airport borrowing and a new water/sewer tax to help rescue the city’s largest pension fund from looming insolvency.

Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic returns to the market Wednesday to take advantage of low interest rates to shed some of its floating-rate exposure.

Underwriters, advisors, and lawyers working on Chicago’s bond deals must come to City Council finance committee meetings prepared to take the “hot seat” and defend their firms’ ethnic, racial, and gender diversity.

The Chicago City Council will vote Wednesday on $3.5 billion of airport borrowing.

Restructuring the debt of Chicago and Illinois would entail about two years of unpleasant headlines, but the city and the state will rebound far sooner and less painfully than if they stay on their current paths.

Chicago's plan to rescue its largest pension fund with the help of a new water and sewer tax cleared a City Council committee despite complaints about the tax’s impact and concerns it doesn’t fully solve the fund’s crisis.

Veteran Chicago-based public finance tax specialist Scott Bremer has joined The Hardwick Law Firm LLC, a hire the minority-owned hopes will bolster its market position in Illinois and beyond.

DuPage County, Illinois lost a triple-A rating because of its limited revenue flexibility and growth prospects that are now given greater weight under revised rating criteria.

Illinois’ failure to pass a full budget for a second consecutive fiscal year is likely to widen the state’s operating fund deficit and exacerbate liquidity pressure on the state’ credit position, says Moody’s Investors Service.

Chicago got its first good rating news after announcing funding plans for the city's municipal and laborers pension funds, as Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on the city's rating to stable from negative.

CHICAGO – Illinois' largest retirement fund voted to lower its assumed investment return rate to 7% from 7.5%, a move that Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration had warned would have a "devastating" impact on funding for social services and education.

Illinois’ budget crisis and political gridlock have taken a toll on the state’s public colleges and universities, S&P Global Ratings said in a report recapping the credit erosion and warning of a tough road ahead for the schools.

The Illinois Finance Authority heads into the market Tuesday with $500 million of top-rated state revolving fund bonds to pave the way for more low cost loans for local clean water and drinking water projects.

Illinois achieved about $56 million in present value savings on the refunding portion of its nearly $550 high-grade, sales tax backed deal that sold competitively Thursday.

The junk-rated Chicago Board of Education authorized up to $1.5 billion in short-term and $945 million of long-term borrowing and signed off on a $5.4 billion budget despite warnings that the plan relies on precarious assumptions.

Illinois’ largest retirement fund will review its assumed investment rate Friday amid a warning from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration that lowering it from 7.5% could have a “devastating” impact on funding for social services and education.

The issuers of the Midwest sold $41 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2016, spurred by increased new money issuance, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Chicago Public Schools is seeking a $400 million increase to its short term borrowing capacity to help manage its strained liquidity.

City Colleges of Chicago suffered a two-notch downgrade after it drew down reserves to balance its books amid uncertainty over the timing and size of future state funding.