Illinois

Chicago Transit Authority will use a $255 million federal TIFIA loan to replace more than 800 rail cars.

Standard & Poor’s put five of the seven Illinois public universities it rates on CreditWatch, citing the Illinois budget impasse.

Fitch Ratings says that California school general obligation bonds meet its “high bar” to determine if the revenue backing bonds would be considered special revenues in a bankruptcy, and therefore more secure.

The risky underpinnings of Chicago’s efforts to solve its $20 billion pension mess are taking center stage this week.

A higher-than-expected 2015 operating loss at Illinois-based Presence Health is expected to trigger a technical default that would allow bondholders and banks to accelerate some debt repayments.

DePaul University in Chicago will sell $70 million Tuesday primarily to finance a new music school building.

Approval of tax measures on local ballots in Illinois’ primary election represents a credit positive for the five local governments that won over voters, Moody’s Investors Service said.

The ratings of 19 Illinois community colleges and their $855 million of debt are under threat of a downgrade as Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget feud the General Assembly’s Democratic majority drags on.

Moody’s Investors Service affirmed Chicago’s junk-bond-level general obligation rating, while also affirming low-investment-grade revenue bond ratings and maintaining negative outlooks.

More Illinois school districts are operating in the red, according to new data from the Illinois Board of Education.

The Chicago City Council signed off on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s request to issue up to $200 million of water revenue bonds to cover swap termination payments.

George Pitt, a bond lawyer who pioneered early tax-exempt healthcare financing and was revered by a generation of Chicago attorneys, died earlier this month of heart failure.

Kutak Rock LLP has elevated Chicago-based public finance attorney Lance Tyson to partner.

Chicago-based public finance attorney Lorraine Tyson has joined Greenberg Traurig LLP where her practice is expected to include both the corporate and municipal sectors.

Presence Health, one of the Chicago area’s largest not-for-profit systems, is under review for a downgrade as Moody’s Investors Service digs into its fiscal 2015 results.

The Chicago Transit Authority board signed off on a $1.3 billion contract for its rail that counts on a low-cost federal loan and approved the appointment of city debt manager Jeremy Fine as chief financial officer.

From a threatened teacher strike to an escalating state-level attack on its governance and borrowing powers, the barrage of bad news has not let up for junk-rated Chicago Public Schools.

Water contamination-related lawsuits filed in Chicago and Flint, Mich. stand to influence the sector nationally as the cases draw more scrutiny to the dangers associated with older lead pipe-based systems, Fitch Rating says in a new report.

Bondholders banking on the Chicago Public Schools’ ability to stabilize its rocky finances lost ground this week as the district’s labor woes intensified and lawmakers advanced an attack on its governance structure.

Chicago-based Cabrera Capital Markets LLC has hired back Brian King, a former Chicago deputy comptroller, to lead a rebuilding and expansion of its public finance business after a fresh infusion of capital.