Illinois

Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson hopes to make an announcement on the CFO post before taking office Monday.

Legislation making its way through the state legislature enhances pension benefits for Tier 2 Chicago firefighters but the Civic Federation is urging lawmakers to slow down.

"When the rating agencies developed and rolled out their ESG scores, they said their ESG scores would not impact an issuer's credit rating. We are holding them to their word," said Ben Watkins, director of the state Division of Bond Finance.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott traded barbs over the flow of migrants as the city has been overwhelmed since Texas began sending them on to Chicago last August.

The city is offering more than $1 billion of debt under its higher-rated Sales Tax Securitization Corp., and its water and wastewater revenue credits.

Transition committee members include several names familiar to the public finance community including Martin Cabrera, head of Cabrera Capital Markets, a majority Latino-owned investment banking firm, and Richard Price, executive chairman of Mesirow, which also does public finance banking.

While the system took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, total traffic hit 94% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Traffic for the first two months of 2023 was 99% of levels in the same period of 2019.

"We know this cliff is coming," said state Sen. Ram Villivalam, head of the state Senate transportation committee. "What structural reforms are we looking at implementing? What innovation can we pursue?"

Chicago outgoing mayor offered a parting shot against pending state legislation that stands to add to city pension costs, but sponsors say the fix was promised and is needed to avoid violating federal rules.

Illinois' $2.5 billion transaction took center stage Wednesday as the state's first GOs to carry an A-level rating since 2016 still offers a healthy yield kick over the A and BBB benchmarks.

The Investment Company Institute reported investors added $229 million to mutual funds in the week ending April 12, after $83 million of outflows the previous week.

Chicago's fiscal forecast has brightened and near-term surpluses should go to cover supplemental pension contributions and into reserves, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said as she prepares to hand the reins of city government to Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson

Illinois' $2.45 billion GO sale should attract a wider investor audience with the higher ratings as the state seeks to raise new money for capital projects, fund ongoing pension buyout programs, and refund some debt for present value savings.

For long-term muni bonds, BofA strategists noted that macro market and supply/demand conditions "are dominating the picture, pushing the high-grade muni market to a relatively rich valuation versus Treasuries."

The upgrades add to the city's ratings upswing across credits that Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson will inherit from Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Illinois' public universities continue to reap ratings and aid benefits from the state's positive rating trajectory and healthy near-term revenue landscape.

The announcement came as a global settlement agreement that resolves Preston Hollow Capital LLC's litigation against Miller and Nuveen was disclosed.

Chicago voters picked Brandon Johnson — a Cook County Board Commissioner, former teacher, and Chicago Teachers' Union organizer — as their next mayor.

The acquisition closed Friday and all nine employees, who provide municipal and healthcare advisory services and treasury consulting services, joined PFM.

The struggling Chicago suburb is waiting on audited financial statements that, once in hand, will pave the way for an exchange offer to its GO bondholders.