Illinois

The Chicago City Council approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Public Schools' proposal to use $17 million in social impact bonding to expand an early education program.

Chicago Treasurer Stephanie Neely will join Allstate as a vice president, treasury, responsible for the firm's strategic direction and management of liquidity, capital, ratings and corporate structure issues.

Illinois governor-elect Bruce Rauner will take the helm of a state struggling with battered credit ratings, massive unfunded pension obligations, and an unbalanced budget.

Springfield, Ill.-based Hospital Sisters Services Inc. will refund $180 million of bonds Wednesday shedding some of its floating rate exposure.

Chicago’s practice of pushing off debt service for cash flow relief and pressures from a looming $550 million spike in public safety pension payments undercut the city’s advances in structurally balancing its budget, the Civic Federation of Chicago wrote.

Midwestern voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide the fate of a handful of finance-related ballot questions and the leadership of eight states, including several where debate over fiscal pressures is taking center stage.

A foreign company has selected Illinois as the site of its planned $1.4 billion fertilizer plant with the help of some local and state financial incentives.

Barraged with political advertisements about the state's fiscal mess, Illinois voters will elect leaders for two fiscal offices — comptroller and treasurer. Incumbent comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, a Republican, is running for re-election against Democrat Sheila Simon.

A proposed $3 billion rapid passenger rail system in the Midwest would cut the five-hour train trip between Chicago to Detroit by almost two hours.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority will returns to the market Thursday to borrow $400 million of new-money, toll-backed debt to kick off record infrastructure spending planned in the coming year.

Prairie State Generating Co. has named Donald Gaston its new president and chief executive officer after a nationwide search.

Wisconsin's Mercy Health System and Illinois' Rockford Health System plan to join forces as soon as December pending regulatory approval.

Chicago Public Schools has reached an agreement to sell its downtown headquarters for $28 million.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust is launching a new initiative that could lead to private financing for the installation of combined heat and power systems in some public buildings.

Chicago City Treasurer and former public finance banker Stephanie Neely is stepping down from the elected post to return to the private sector.

Chicago's general obligation bond ratings will remain pressured until the city fully fixes its pension mess, top city finance officials told alderman, while warning City Council not to expect to use reserves to ease the pain of a coming $550 million pension spike.

Illinois closed out the first quarter of fiscal 2015 with its bill backlog holding steady at nearly $5 billion, state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka reported in her office's monthly update.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority unveiled a preliminary 2015 budget Wednesday that relies on as much as $800 million of toll-backed borrowing to support $1.6 billion in capital spending.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed erasing $300 million of red ink by raising parking and leasing taxes, expected savings, and cuts in a 2015 budget that delays tackling a $550 million pension reckoning.

Stricken by cancer, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis won't try to unseat Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel in next year's mayoral contest.