Illinois

Concerns over the size of Cook County, Ill.'s sales tax hike to shore up pensions overshadows other accomplishments in board President Toni Preckwinkle's proposed budget, the Civic Federation of Chicago said.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner hired financial advisory specialist Kelly Hutchinson from the firm A.C. Advisory to manage its debt as capital markets director.

Chicago’s passage of a record tax hike to help stabilize its public safety pension funds has fueled further tightening of the city’s general obligation trading levels in recent days, Municipal Market Analytics says.

Chicago squares off in the Illinois Supreme Court Nov. 17 with unions and pension fund members challenging the overhaul of its municipal and laborers' pension funds.

Moody's Investors Service is taking a positive view of Springfield, Ill's water, light and power utility's $500 million debt restructuring as a stabilizing influence on its credit profile

The Illinois Teachers' Retirement System's total unfunded pension obligations worsened slightly in the last fiscal year, to $62.7 billion from $61.5 billion.

Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency see the Chicago City Council’s passage of a record property tax as a good step toward stabilizing the city’s finances, though they say plenty of concerns remain.

While Illinois’ falling ratings doesn’t post much default risk, investors should tread cautiously with the credit due to headline risks that could cut the value of their holdings, that’s the assessment offered from one buyside participant.

Investment banking firm Rice Financial Products Co. has hired seven people to bolster its sales and trading operations and expand its footprint in California, Illinois, Texas and New York.

Standard & Poor’s said Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's recently adopted tax hike to fund pensions is just one step in the city's long road to financial stability.

Illinois local governments, especially school districts, are faring better than their Pennsylvania counterparts during their respective state’s budget impasse, Moody’s Investors Service says.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2016 budget and record property tax hike to pay for public safety pensions easily cleared the City Council Wednesday.

Chicago City Council members cast their vote Wednesday on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s nearly $8 billion 2016 budget that relies on a record property tax hike billed as the needed fix for the city’s pension mess that’s behind its plummeting credit.

Despite last week’s downgrades, Illinois’ general obligation paper fares better than New Jersey for relative credit risk, Municipal Market Analytics said in a commentary comparing the two lowest-rated states.

Six of Illinois’ eight public universities took a fresh credit blow from Moody’s Investors Service with downgrades stemming from exposure to the state’s fiscal strains and its budget crisis.

The Chicago Park District’s AA-plus Standard & Poor's rating won’t change solely because of a new legal challenge launched against its pension reforms.

Illinois took its second credit blow this week when Moody’s Investors Service dropped the state’s general obligation debt into the triple-B category Thursday as the state’s prospects for tackling its budget and pension mess dim amid the four-month-old budget stalemate.

Moody's Investors Service said it has downgraded the state of Illinois' $26.8 billion of general obligation bonds to Baa1 from A3, while also lowering ratings on the state's sales-tax (Build Illinois) bonds to Baa1 from A3, and on the state's subject to appropriation bonds (issued by the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and for the state's Civic Center program) to Baa2 from Baa1.

With the Illinois state budget impasse blocking only a limited number of revenue sources, most local governments in the state should be able to get by without an immediate ratings impact bond structures that include covered abatements and adequate liquidity and reserves.

Investors should brace for further deterioration of Illinois’ already battered bond ratings after this week’s Fitch Ratings downgrade.