Illinois

Moody's Investors Service expressed doubt that retirement benefit savings pitched by Gov. Bruce Rauner can be achieved in time to balance the proposed 2016 budget.

Municipal bond borrowing by Midwestern issuers picked up steam last year, rising by 6.9% to $63.5 billion as issuers loosened the reins a bit on new money borrowing and refundings recorded double-digit gains thanks to favorable interest rates.

Moody's Investors Service hit Sangamon County School District 186 with a downgrade and warned of the possibility for further deterioration in part due to pressures from the state's fiscal struggles.

Rating agency analysts and other market participants labeled Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed fiscal 2016 budget, which relies on cuts to close a big deficit, an opening shot in a long game with an uncertain outcome ahead.

Public finance banker R. Ray Kljajic, a staple of Chicago's municipal bond community, is leaving Citi after a 25-year career there to pursue consulting and other opportunities in the infrastructure realm and in tax policy.

Republicans embraced Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's proposed budget as "bold" while Democrats who control the General Assembly slammed the depth of spending cuts and labeled a reliance on savings from pension reforms as "reckless."

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner unveiled a fiscal 2016 budget that would cut spending across state government to close an estimated $6 billion gap without tax increases.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is expected to propose deeply slash state spending to erase billions of red ink in the fiscal 2016 budget without new taxes, legislative leaders said.

Oral arguments in the case challenging Illinois' 2013 public pension overhaul will be heard March 11.

The Sterling, Ill., Park District is now teetering on the brink of junk bond status as it struggles with limited liquidity to deal with its fiscal pressures.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is poised to reveal his plan to erase billions of red ink, with analysts, investors, and budget watchdogs warning that cuts alone aren't likely to solve the state’s long-term structural woes.

Illinois Capital Markets Director John Sinsheimer will resign this week as the state's debt manager after more than five years in the position, Gov. Bruce Rauner's office said Tuesday.

The steady annual climb in the collective long-term, tax-supported debt of Chicago, Cook County, and the city's sister agencies reversed course in 2013, doing little to dent a debt tally that is up almost 60% over 10 years.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday signed an executive order freeing state employees who opt not to join a union from having to pay so-called "fair share" fees used to fund unions' political activities.

More urgent budget problems, and a partisan divide, mean an uncertain fate for proposals by Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner to establish a Chapter 9 bankruptcy law for local governments and passage of a constitutional amendment on pensions.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner is defending plans to pay top fiscal aide Donna Arduin $120,000 under a four month, non-competitively bid contract, calling his new chief financial well worth the expense to help fix the state's fiscal mess.

The Chicago Transit Authority's receipt of a $120 federal loan under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance Innovation Act for the renovation of a major light-rail line was announced Thursday by city and federal officials.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner laid out an agenda Wednesday aimed at promoting business and economic growth by overhauling the tax code, curbing some organized labor powers with other reforms targeting public pensions and unpaid bills.

The Chicago Transit Authority struck a $32.5 million deal with four telecommunications companies to finance the upgrade of wireless phone service in the authority’s subway system to a 4G network.

The Chicago Transit Authority received AA-minus and A-plus ratings on its planned $120 million TIFIA loan for the renovation of a major rail transit line.