Illinois

The Chicago Park District heads to market Thursday with $88 million of debt that market participants say should offer up some alluring yield premiums due to the troubled Chicago name.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will unveil his proposed 2016 budget Sept. 22, giving market participants a few days to digest his plan for stabilizing city finances before hosting investors on Sept. 25.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation Thursday that allows the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority to make its debt payments even without a state budget in place.

Moody’s Investors Service stripped the limited tax general obligation bonds of the Cook County Community School District 147 in Dixmoor, Illinois of their investment grade rating.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner’s latest offer to shore up the finances of Chicago Public Schools fell flat with Democratic legislative leaders who don’t like the conditions attached.

Issuers in the Midwest sold $37.5 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2015, up 17.5 % from the same period of 2014 as refundings made up for a decline in new money issuance.

Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook on Wisconsin-based Mercy Alliance's A2 rating to negative from stable due to execution risks with the system's January merger with Rockford Health System.

Standard & Poor’s stripped the Chicago Public Schools of its investment grade rating with a three notch downgrade saying a proposed budget does little to solve its structural or liquidity woes.

The Illinois Finance Authority advanced plans for nearly $1 billion in borrowing on behalf of not-for-profit schools and hospitals led by the University of Chicago.

The Illinois Supreme Court will consider Chicago's appeal of a lower court ruling voiding its 2014 pension reform legislation under an expedited timetable leading to oral arguments this November.

A group of Illinois House Democrats proposed legislation Thursday to end the state’s practice of subsidizing local districts’ teacher pension contributions — a move that could help Chicago Public Schools.

The Illinois House unanimously passed a bill that authorizes $5.2 billion in federal funds spending and allows the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority to make debt payments, after Democrats abandoned efforts to tack general fund spending onto the measure.

Markham, Ill., faces a possible further downgrade of its junk-rated debt unless it releases updated financial information by Aug. 24, Standard & Poor's said Monday.

Moody’s Investors Service labeled the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority's inability to make its monthly debt service deposit a “credit negative” for Illinois’ A3 rating.

Standard & Poor's credit view of Illinois' flagship public university has dimmed due to uncertainty over when the state will solve its fiscal 2016 budget impasse and how the school will fare in a final plan.

Chicago Public Schools released a proposed $6.4 billion fiscal 2016 budget that pockets more than $300 million from one-shots and gambles on the state coming through with nearly $500 million in pension.

Standard & Poor's, in a special comment, said it wants to see how serious Chicago is about fixing its structural budget deficit.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is escalating pressure on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to help pass his agenda by offering up a sweeping fiscal fix for the Chicago Public Schools' pension woes.

Chicago's Midway International Airport is in line for $250 million in upgrades under a plan announced Thursday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan's request for more time to consider whether to appeal the state's high court voiding a 2013 state pension system overhaul.