Illinois

Illinois will host a forum next month to meet with developers, air carriers and potential tenants as the state seeks to advance plans for a public private partnership to develop the South Suburban Airport.

Illinois' decision to conduct a revenue volatility study that could aid in the eventual development of a more robust rainy day fund won the struggling state some rare praise in a report from Pew Charitable Trusts.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel hosts the investor community Friday with a mixed bag of news to share a year after its last meeting was marred by a rare triple-notch downgrade.

Illinois' current fiscal strains pose a threat to the credits of state's public universities that rely heavily on state subsidies, Standard & Poor's warns in a new report.

Chicago heads into its 2015 budget season with a $297 million gap to close according to projections that delay the city's funding of a $550 million spike in police and fire pension fund contributions.

The Chicago City Council approved a 56% increase in the city's emergency services surcharge that's tacked on to phone bills, staving off the need for a $50 million property tax hike next year to cover the first year of higher contributions due under a pension reform plan.

Moody's Investors Service revised the Illinois Institute of Technology's outlook to stable, easing pressure on the rating that is at the lowest investment grade level.

Illinois made headway in paying down its bill backlog in fiscal 2014, bringing the total to under $5 billion for the first time in years, as state revenues showed growth on par with estimates.

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is playing up the rare tax-exemption from state income taxes and sturdy repayment protections offered by its $285 million refunding that’s linked to the troubled state credit through an appropriation pledge.

One rating agency dropped Rock Island County, Ill. out of the double-A category while another boosted it into the upper ranks, providing a stark contrast in credit views.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust hopes to launch a competitive selection process this fall for private partners in its third energy retrofit project – city outdoor lighting upgrades.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Tuesday a $1.1 billion bond-financed transportation package.

The Chicago Board of Education unanimously approved a nearly $6.8 billion budget even as some board members expressed reservations over the district's reliance on one-time manuevers to close a $900 million shortfall.

Illinois suffered a setback Wednesday when Standard & Poor's revised its outlook on the state's A-minus rating to negative, reflecting analysts' dim view of the state's new budget and concerns over whether retirement benefit reforms will withstand a legal test.

Illinois faces an additional $128 million tab for retiree health insurance due to the recent Illinois Supreme Court decision assigning constitutional protections to the benefits.

Moody's Investors Service lowered the University of Chicago's rating one level to Aa2 as the school prepares to take on more debt to further its long-term strategic plans that will strain cash flow over the next several years.

The Republican candidate for Illinois governor unveiled a proposal to overhaul the state's tax system that calls for phasing out the state's 2011 temporary income tax hike, expanding the sales tax, and freezing property taxes.

The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is hoping to bring a roughly $278 million refunding to market this summer as it looks to ease the challenges of managing an escalating debt service schedule with an economically sensitive revenue stream.

A second debt service payment default was triggered after the Lombard, Ill., board voted not to honor its appropriation commitment on a portion of $190 million of bonds issued for a struggling hotel and conference center.

Moody's has hit well over a dozen Illinois municipal credits — led by Chicago and Cook County — with single and multiple notch downgrades over the last year primarily due to the strains of their unfunded pension liabilities.