Illinois

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn says the state should permanently extend a 2011 "temporary" income tax increase that is set to expire next year, saying the alternative is dire cuts to education and state services

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will lay out a fiscal 2015 budget proposal and reveal how he plans to deal with a looming income tax rate rollback. The Chicago Tribune is reporting the plan makes permanent the tax increase.

Illinois hospitals provided $704 million in charity care as part of $5.2 billion in annual "community benefits," according to the Illinois Hospital Association's latest review of hospitals' annual filings.

The Regional Transportation of Illinois is expanding its pursuit of companies and towns involved in the practice of setting up alleged sham offices in small towns to avoid higher sales taxes in Cook County.

Illinois would impose an income tax surcharge on the state's millionaires to raise $1 billion of new revenue for school funding under a constitutional amendment proposed by state House Speaker Michael Madigan

Illinois' economy, debts, and the fate of an expiring income tax hike are expected to take center stage in the governor's match between Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn and Republican businessman Bruce Rauner.

More Illinois school districts struggled financially in their last fiscal year, according to the Illinois Board of Education's latest financial profiles report.

The Chicago Park District criticized Moody's Investors Service on for its latest downgrade, arguing the agency pays too much attention to the district's links with the city of Chicago and not enough to its fiscal strengths including recent pension reforms. Chicago Public Schools were also downgraded.

A proposed 47-mile toll road linking Indiana and Illinois is eligible for a federal TIFIA loan that could reduce construction costs by up to 20%, officials said.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust will open a search Wednesday for investors to finance energy efficiency upgrades at Chicago's public swimming pools.

The weight of Chicago's credit woes has driven a fresh round of downgrades for the Chicago Board of Education and Chicago Park District.

Illinois finished out its last fiscal year with the worst overall net financial position of any state reviewed by the state auditor general after the release of the state's comprehensive annual financial report, or CAFR.

Chicago pared down some of the expected interest rate penalty on its $880 million general obligation bond sale by drawing dozens of new investors in a market starved for issuance but still paid a steep price for its blemished credit.

Chicago received $3.6 billion of orders on its $884 million general obligation bond issue Wednesday that marked its first outing with GOs tarnished by two triple-notch downgrades and a drop into the Baa1 category.

The Illinois Finance Authority board signed on Centegra Health System's plans to borrow $200 million for a new hospital and an agreement to assist with obtaining ratings on a financing tied to the proposed Illiana toll road.

Illinois received seven bids on its $402 million issue of high-grade, taxable revenue bonds Tuesday with JPMorgan winning the bonds with a true interest bid of 4.2706%.

Illinois paid at least $80 million more on general obligation bonds sold between 2005 and 2010 due to its poor reputation with investors, according to a new academic report.

RBC Capital Markets has hired Stratford Shields -- a longtime Morgan Stanley banker and a former head of its public finance business -- to lead its Midwestern municipal banking efforts.

After wrapping a $402 million sales tax backed deal slated for Thursday, Illinois expects to return to the market over the spring with up to $1 billion of general obligation borrowing to fund its ongoing $31 billion capital program.

Moody's Investors Service's decision to drop Chicago out of the A rating category over its pension woes strikes at both its credit and reputation, market participants said Wednesday