Illinois

Chicago paid $3.5 million in fees and expenses to lawyers and other advisors on its aborted plan to privatize Midway International Airport, according to the city's Chief Financial Officer Lois Scott. She called the spending well worth it.

Chicago plans to sell up to $900 million of O'Hare International Airport general airport revenue bonds to raise new money for projects and refund older debt for savings.

Fitch Ratings slapped the Chicago Board of Education with a one notch downgrade to A-minus over its budgetary woes driven by a years-long reliance on one-shots to erase red ink.

Macon & Dewitt Counties' Community Unit School District 2 in Central Illinois is at risk of losing its investment grade rating over its fiscal struggles.

Standard & Poor's has lifted the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove's general obligation rating to AAA after applying its new ratings criteria to a review of the credit ahead of a planned refunding.

Moody's Investors Service on Friday placed Illinois-based Proctor Hospital's speculative-grade B2 rating on review for upgrade due to its signing of an affiliation agreement with the stronger and larger Methodist Health Services Corp.

An Illinois judge said he intends to rule next week on whether Gov. Pat Quinn acted within his authority to strike legislative pay from the fiscal 2014 budget to pressure lawmakers on pension reforms.

A Cook County Circuit Court judge rejected Chicago's efforts to trim the size of a $58 million arbitration award won by the private operators of four downtown city and park district-owned parking garages.

Illinois Democratic gubernatorial candidate William Daley, former White House chief of staff, bowed out of his challenge to incumbent Pat Quinn, a fellow Democrat.

Standard & Poor's put Chicago on notice Monday that its A-plus general obligation rating faces a downgrade due to the size of its unfunded pension obligations and the strain of a looming $600 million spike in its pension contributions.

Less than half of state pension plans met Morningstar Inc.'s threshold for healthy status in 2012 with Wisconsin again ranking the strongest and Illinois the weakest.

The Illinois Finance Authority advanced borrowing plans by Presence Health and several other elementary and higher education institutions totaling more than $400 million this week.

A P3 involving Harrisburg’s parking assets would provide back-end revenue and avoid a Chicago-type fiasco in Pennsylvania’s capital, a receivership official said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel voiced support for his chief financial officer Lois Scott this week, following reports highlighting her past business ties to former comptroller Amer Ahmad, who faces federal corruption charges tied to his tenure as deputy Ohio Treasurer.

A political landscape marked by anti-privatization sentiments may have left Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel little choice but to drop the city's bid to lease Midway International.

Chicago cancelled its effort to privatize Midway International Airport after bidders dropped out and it became clear the city might not fetch the money it sought for the public-private partnership.

Midwestern financial advisory firm Columbia Capital Management LLC hired veteran public finance banker and advisor Courtney Shea to lead its push for Chicago area and state of Illinois business.

Increased debt service from Illinois’ recent round of borrowing is coming closer to exhausting revenues available in a special capital projects account, a report said.

Illinois' public universities are burdened by the weight of state inaction on pension reform, declining aid and tight in-state tuition regulations, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Moody's Investors Service has revised its outlook on Rush University Medical Center Obligated Group's A2 rating to positive from stable due to good operating margins.