Illinois

CHICAGO – The Detroit City Council approved two of three measures needed to advance plans for a partially bond-financed $650 million downtown development that includes a new hockey arena and entertainment district.

CHICAGO - Standard & Poor's lowered its rating on Western Illinois University to A-minus from A and assigned a negative outlook. It also revised its outlook on Governors State University's A-minus rating to negative.

Illinois saw its yield penalties reduced in its first bond sale after lawmakers passed legislation aimed at stabilizing its underfunded pension system.

The Illinois Finance Authority board gave a green light to two healthcare financings and renewed executive director Chris Meister's appointment for another year.

Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois head Joseph Costello will retire from the agency where he has worked for the last two decades first as fiscal chief and then as executive director.

Standard & Poor's shifted its outlook on Illinois' general obligation outlook to "developing" from "negative" Tuesday following passage of a sweeping pension restructuring but warned the state is far from out of the woods fiscally.

As Illinois girds for a promised legal challenge, backers of the state's newly minted pension overhaul believe the legislation can pass constitutional muster by what it offers public sector workers in exchange for benefit cuts.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last week announced plans for a nearly $500 million overhaul of the Chicago Transit Authority's rail transit line to O'Hare Airport.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel named Daniel Widawsky to serve as comptroller, replacing Amer Ahmad, who faces corruption charges stemming from his previous tenure in the Ohio Treasurer’s office.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed the sweeping overhaul of the state's pension system into law on Thursday, calling it a "serious solution to address the most dire fiscal challenge of our time." The legislation will soon face a legal challenge from unions.

Investors endorsed Illinois’ pension restructuring legislation with state paper trading at tighter spreads while rating agencies, though cautious, called the overhaul a positive step.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn promised a prompt signature on the pension overhaul lawmakers delivered Tuesday, setting the stage for battles over its legality and effectiveness.

Ending a two-year political impasse, the Illinois General Assembly approved sweeping changes to the state's pension system billed by its backers as a "landmark" overhaul that will stabilize both the system and the state's fiscal foundation.

Democratic and Republican backers of legislation to fix Illinois's pension mess portrayed it as landmark legislation that represents the best shot at both stabilizing the system and the state's fiscal foundation while unions attacked it as unfair and unconstitutional.

With the market focused on Illinois ahead of a Tuesday vote on a pension system fix, the state has announced plans to take competitive bids on $350 million of taxable general obligation bonds next week to meet ongoing capital funding needs.

Illinois lawmakers convene Tuesday to vote on a package of reforms agreed to by their leaders with the aim of stabilizing a pension system saddled with $100 billion of unfunded obligations.

Illinois General Assembly leaders met Tuesday in their continuing effort to hash out a pension overhaul in anticipation of a vote next week during a possible special session.

The Chicago City Council overwhelmingly approved a $7 billion 2014 budget that is balanced but with little buffer to absorb a $600 million pension payment spike looming in 2015.

Moody's Investors Service revised its outlook on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's A3 rating to stable from negative in recognition of its improving.

Two Illinois health systems – Cadence Health and Rockford Health System – announced their plans this week to merge, the latest in a long list of healthcare unions in the state in recent years.