Illinois

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn called a special legislative session for June 19 to try to break the gridlock on pension reform that prompted the second blow to the state's already weak general obligation rating Thursday.

The Chicago City Council ratified revisions to the much-maligned 75-year parking meter lease that Mayor Rahm Emanuel promoted as cutting the city's long-term penalties for lost parking revenue to the private meter operators.

Fitch Ratings lowered Chicago's motor fuel tax revenue bond credit one notch ahead of the a planned $100 million refunding issue, in a move triggered by the agency's downgrade of Illinois.

Fitch Ratings moved Monday to punish Illinois' inaction on pension reform during its legislative session by knocking its general obligation and appropriation ratings down one level and warning of the potential for further deterioration.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's administration started the week bracing for further credit deterioration in response to lawmakers’ adjournment of their regular session without solving the state's pension crisis.

The highly-regarded Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago received a first time rating of A-minus from Fitch Ratings that banks on a successful fundraising campaign to help repay debt being issued to finance a $550 million replacement facility.

The prospects for passage of comprehensive legislation to overhaul Illinois' faltering pension system before lawmakers adjourn Friday dimmed after the Illinois Senate overwhelmingly rejected a House-sponsored reform package estimated to save the state $187 billion in the coming decades.

With the clock ticking on a Friday adjournment, Illinois lawmakers are wrapping work up on fiscal 2014 budget bills but a fix for the state's pension crisis still on the table.

Chicago is seeking to reduce the size of the $58 million award an independent arbitration panel ruled the city owes private operators of four downtown city and park district-owned parking garages.

Acacia Financial Group Inc. fired Courtney Shea – the former public finance banker hired to open a Chicago office in 2009 -- and added former banker and investment asset manager professional Jim Beck to its Chicago team.

Fresh from a new-money Build Illinois sales tax-backed sale, Illinois plans to return to the market early in June to refund $600 million in its largest issue ever under the 28-year-old bond program.

The Chicago Board of Education voted to shutter 49 schools in a move defended by the school system and board members as needed to right-size a district straining with a $1 billion budget deficit.

A one-time infusion of higher-than-expected income tax revenues helped Illinois make a $2.7 billion dent in its chronic unpaid bill backlog but the the number is expected to again climb in the coming months.

The fiscal condition of Chicago, Cook County, and five other local government pension systems deteriorated in 2011 by $4.6 billion, bringing their collective unfunded obligations to $32 billion.

The Illinois Health Facilities and Services Board last week signed off on two planned hospital mergers in the Chicago area.

Chicago began notifying its retirees this week that most will lose their healthcare subsidies over the next few years as Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration seeks to shed a rising cost.

Chicago convention managers and Mayor Rahm Emanuel advanced plans Thursday for a new arena and makeover of the city's top tourist attraction as part of a $1 billion package of new and previously proposed tourism-and-entertainment projects.

Standard & Poor's has raised its rating by one notch on Riverside Health System to A-plus due to its leading market position and improved balance sheet.

Chicago City Council member Brendan Reilly said this week he has consulted with public finance experts in an exploration of how the city could finance a buy back of the parking meter system from private operators.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's proposed $62.4 billion fiscal 2014 operating budget won the endorsement of a local government watchdog group, tempered by alarm over the state's mountain of unpaid bills and pension crisis.