Illinois

The Chicago Board of Education last week voted to rescind a planned 4% teachers’ raise in the district’s next $6.5 billion budget as it struggles with a looming $712 million deficit.

CHICAGO — U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois unveiled legislation Monday that would promote public-private partnerships for transportation projects by lifting federal restrictions on tapping private financing for airports, highways, and railroads.

CHICAGO - Moody's Investors Service Thursday hit Cook County, Ill., with a downgrade, affecting $3.5 billion of outstanding general obligation bonds issued by the nation's second-largest county.

CHICAGO - While its issuance levels recently have reflected the national slowdown, the Illinois Finance Authority is seeing some pickup in health-care deal flow with four issues for nearly $800 million in the works, including $533 million for the state's largest health care system and three direct bank purchases.

Gov. Pat Quinn last week named Gery Chico to serve as chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education.

Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka on Monday announced a revamped state website with new features aimed at easing public access to financial records and reports.

Chicago and Cook County, collectively facing nearly $1 billion of red ink in their next budgets, could save up to $140 million in coming years by consolidating their purchasing power and some services and collaborating on their capital programs, according to a report released Monday.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn last week announced a state partnership with the University of Illinois and a special advisory group to study the feasibility of high-speed rail service between Chicago and Champaign-Urbana and possibly to other parts of the state and neighboring cities.

CHICAGO — Calling for a special legislative session, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Monday warned that the General Assembly’s failure to authorize a capital spending bill before adjourning last week jeopardizes billions of dollars in construction projects.

CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools will scale back its planned borrowing in fiscal 2012 and trim administrative costs to shave $75 million off an estimated $720 million gap in its next budget, new schools chief Jean-Claude Brizard and Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday.

CHICAGO — Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has joined Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP — the top-ranked legal firm for city bond deals ­­— in an of counsel role in which the firm intends to draw on his experience and relationships to bolster its continued growth, officials announced Wednesday.

CHICAGO — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday called a massive expansion of gambling approved by lawmakers this week “excessive” and the fiscal 2012 budget “unfinished” because it leaves billions of dollars in bills unpaid and cuts education funding.

CHICAGO — Illinois lawmakers entered the homestretch of their annual regular session this week facing a crowded agenda topped by budget questions, including whether to use borrowing to pay down bills — a debate that prompted a threat from the treasurer to call investors and warn them against buying state bonds.

CHICAGO — At its first meeting presided over by new Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved his first major piece of legislation: a council reorganization.

CHICAGO — The Illinois attorney general’s office and lawyers for a liquor distributor squared off before the state Supreme Court this week over whether the state’s 2009 $31 billion public works program — and the funding streams approved to repay bonding for it — are legal.

CHICAGO — The Chicago Public Schools’ chief financial officer, Diana Ferguson, has resigned her position effective next week, but will continue to work on a pro bono basis until a replacement is named, officials said this week.

CHICAGO — After more than two decades in office, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley on Monday hands the reins over to Rahm Emanuel, leaving behind a legacy highlighted by major bond-financed projects and infrastructure investment, but marred by the city’s daunting fiscal challenges.

CHICAGO — Illinois lawmakers should reject much of Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposed $52.7 billion fiscal 2012 budget because it leaves a $2.4 billion operating shortfall and relies too heavily on an expensive borrowing scheme to pay off billions of dollars in overdue bills, a local tax policy group recommended Monday.

CHICAGO — The Lombard Public Facilities Corp. in Illinois is exploring its options to buy more time for business to pick up at its bond-financed hotel and conference center after too few investors were willing to tender their bonds at the agency’s asking price.

CHICAGO — The new administration running Cook County, Ill., continued to fill out its top financial team last week with the appointment of a new budget director and a new deputy director of ­finance.