Illinois

Rising tax revenues helped Illinois chip away at the unpaid obligations on its books going into the new fiscal year July 1 but the number remained at a staggering $7.5 billion to $8 billion, Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka reports.

Illinois-based Hospital Sisters Services, Inc. is gearing up to sell more than $400 million of new-money and refunding bonds this fall as it undertakes various upgrades to existing facilities and opens a replacement critical access hospital.

With a $500 million new-money issue in the works, Moody's Investors slapped the Chicago Public Schools with a downgrade and warned of further negative action due to mounting fiscal challenges and the district's plan to dig deeply into reserves as a budget fix.

A retired state judge has filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a new Illinois law that overhauls the state's retiree healthcare program and shifting more of the funding burden for premiums to beneficiaries.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed several pieces of legislation authorizing $1.6 billion in new state borrowing to finance transportation and transit projects and extending an increase in the Regional Transportation Authority of Illinois' working cash notes limits.

Top Illinois finance officials are on the road to sell institutional investors on the tidy structure of the state's sale issue next week of $1.5 billion of double-A rated unemployment bonds that are insulated against the state's well-publicized liquidity and budget struggles.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has submitted his nominations for the new Chicago Infrastructure Trust to the City Council.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Cook County Board of Commissioners President Toni Preckwinkle announced that $33 million in savings were achieved in the first year of collaboration on some services and initiatives.

The financially-strapped Chicago Public Schools system released a $5.2 billion proposed budget for fiscal 2013 that closes a $665 million gap with a property tax hike, operating cuts, and by digging deeply into reserves and draining its unreserved fund balance.

The Lombard, Ill. Public Facilities Corp. drew $1.8 million from reserves to cover debt-service owed this month on $190 million of hotel and conference center debt.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signs a $33.7 billion general fund budget for new fiscal year that includes $2.7 billion Medicaid restructuring, makes $1.3 billion dent in overdue bills, and cuts discretionary spending. Quinn is pushing lawmakers to act on pension reforms to stabilize state fiscal house.

Illinois plans to sell $1.5 billion of highly-rated unemployment bonds in Mid-July to repay federal government while Gov. Pat Quinn intends to sign a new $33.7 billion budget on Saturday as state closes out fiscal 2012 owing as much $9 billion in unpaid obligations.

Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and South Carolina are about close to blowing a deadline for adopting a fiscal 2013 budget.

Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board approved a pool of four financial advisory firms as it gears up to begin borrowing for a $12 billion capital program.

Seven States are two and a half day away from blowing a Saturday deadline for adopting a fiscal year 2013 budget.

Chicago-based veteran bond attorney William Corbin returns to roots at Chapman and Cutler from Perkins Coie

Moody's calls Illinois legislation setting charity care guidelines for not-for-profit hospitals positive for the sector's credit health

Cook County, Ill. President Toni Preckwinkle unveils a budget projecting a $267 million shortfall. She says it's the smallest deficit since she took over.

Members of East St. Louis' elected school board last week mounted a legal challenge to Illinois' decision to take over the troubled district and disband the local board, according to published reports.

Officials from the Chicago Transit Authority Monday said a $20 million federal TIGER grant would allow the agency to move forward with upgrades to a busy transit terminal.