Illinois

Peabody Energy Corp., which led efforts to develop the mostly bond-financed, joint power agency-owned Prairie State Energy Campus, has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission on the coal-fired plant's development.

Illinois entered the New Year with a backlog of $9 billion in unpaid bills and the strain shows no sign of ebbing, according to reports published Monday.

Chicago received 16 responses in its first market outreach to identify prospective bidders in a possible deal to privatize Midway International Airport, according to the city's chief financial officer Lois Scott.

A new Illinois pension reform proposal calls for making permanent Illinois' temporary income tax hike and directing those revenues along with higher employee contributions to stabilize the pension system.

The public agency that owns the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago unveiled plans with city and state officials Tuesday to build a new, 1200-room $400 million hotel to serve the convention center complex.

Local governments in Illinois would face tougher disclosure requirements on their debt and retiree costs under proposals announced by House Republicans designed to improve public access to the information.

The former comptroller of a small Illinois city faces nearly 20 years in prison under the sentence handed down by a federal judge following her conviction for stealing more than $53 million from city coffers over two decades.

Chicago's plans to enter the market later this year with up to $900 million of O'Hare International Airport revenue debt to raise about $300 million for the airport's capital improvement program and ongoing $8 billion runway expansion program.

Chicago has struck a tentative collective bargaining agreement with one of its smaller unions that includes pension benefit and retiree healthcare reforms that Mayor Rahm Emanuel characterized Tuesday as a possible roadmap to help solve the city's pension crisis.

Illinois will provide $250 million in low-interest loans to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago as part of its expanded $1 billion state revolving fund, Gov. Pat Quinn announced Monday.

Refunding opportunities fueled a 36.3% surge in bond issuance among Midwestern borrowers last year as the steadfastly conservative region shied away from adding new debt in favor of shoring up balance sheets.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed supplemental fiscal 2013 budget legislation that authorizes $1.5 billion in spending for transportation, group health insurance payments, and for an array of other areas.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn pressed lawmakers Wednesday to act on a pension reform package that merges House and Senate proposals with the goal of improving the legislation's chances of withstanding a legal challenge by unions.

Moody's affirmed Midway International Airport's single-A level ratings and said it should not see a significant credit impact from Chicago's effort to privatize the airfield.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, Ill. – which is preparing to merge with the higher rated Edward Hospital and Health Services -- one notch to BBB due to its weak operating performance.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust has tapped Stephen S. Beitler, a founder and managing director at a Chicago area private equity investment and advisory company, to serve as its first executive director.

The Chicago Infrastructure Trust has formally launched a search for private market interest in providing up to $100 million of financing for energy efficient upgrades to city facilities and schools.

Fighting headwinds from a downgrade and headlines over failed pension reform efforts, Illinois postponed its competitive sale of $500 million of general obligation bonds over concerns it would pay too steep an interest rate penalty.

Unions that represent state employees want Gov. Pat Quinn and the General Assembly's leaders to join in on a "summit" slated for Feb. 11 to discuss pension reforms.

Chicago collected more than $100 million in hotel taxes last year, a record level, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said last week.