Illinois

Headwinds remain, despite the S&P upgrade, as the district warns of a $600 million gap once federal COVID-19 aid runs out with its governance poised to change.

Fitch Ratings affirmed Illinois GO bonds at BBB-plus and lifted the rating outlook as the state prepares to sell up to $2.5 billion of general obligation debt.

The state, through its established conduit issuer, is eyeing new financing products to promote climate goals as its pursues $1.2 billion of federal funds.

The state plans to enter the market before the fiscal year closes June 30th with eyes turned to Fitch and whether it will follow Moody's and S&P with an upgrade.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and council members passed resolutions honoring Msall for guiding local finances over two decades as Chicago Civic Federation president.

Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza talks with Yvette Shields about the state's progress on building up reserves and paying down debts that have helped lift the state's bond ratings, efforts to make further headway and the challenges of making sure fresh legislative faces understand the pains suffered during the two-year budget impasse. (35 minutes)

Illinois earlier this week saw its second upgrade of the year and Gov. J.B. Pritzker suggested an uptick in revenue projections could provide room to further bolster fiscal metrics that helped draw the upgrade.

Moody's Investors joined S&P Global Ratings in lifting the state into the A category with a single notch upgrade to A3 Tuesday.

Governance decisions and rapidly escalating deficits contributed to Moody's decision to cut Illinois Tech's rating two notches to speculative grade.

Illinois lawmakers' research arm projects more revenue in the current budget year but warns budget writers to proceed with caution in the next.

The state's once-depleted rainy-day fund that's now on track to hit nearly $2 billion this year would receive automatic deposits when two financial metrics are hit under pending legislation.

Paul Vallas, a former city budget director and public schools chief, and Brandon Johnson, a Cook County commissioner and teachers' union organizer were the two top vote-getters in Tuesday's election sending them to an April runoff.

Sarah Wetmore, its VP and research director, will lead the organization while the board searches for a permanent president following Laurence Msall's death.

Chicago's school district will tap its investment-grade dedicated capital improvement tax credit for the first time in five years in a $529 million deal.

A key consideration in the upgrade was the state's recent actions in both addressing longstanding obligation repayments and rapidly repaying obligations taken on during the pandemic-induced recession, S&P said.

Earlier in the pandemic, bond values showed a greater divergence among local government issuers tracked, but that has reverted to pre-pandemic levels, although work-from-home and other uncertainties still take a toll.

A panel that includes public finance professionals is tasked with finding fiscal and operational solutions for the transit systems, which face a fiscal cliff.

Gov. J.B. Priztker touted the state's fiscal progress in his combined budget and state of the state speech.

Fitch Ratings received enough inquiries over S&P's action — slashing a Chicago suburb's GO rating by seven notches — that it put out a special commentary outlining differences between the two agencies' analytical approach even though Fitch does not rate the village under scrutiny.

Midwest borrowing last year went from 11% year-over-year growth in the first quarter to a 48% plunge in the fourth quarter.