Midwest

The Illinois Finance Authority heads into the market Tuesday with $500 million of top-rated state revolving fund bonds to pave the way for more low cost loans for local clean water and drinking water projects.

Illinois achieved about $56 million in present value savings on the refunding portion of its nearly $550 high-grade, sales tax backed deal that sold competitively Thursday.

The junk-rated Chicago Board of Education authorized up to $1.5 billion in short-term and $945 million of long-term borrowing and signed off on a $5.4 billion budget despite warnings that the plan relies on precarious assumptions.

Illinois’ largest retirement fund will review its assumed investment rate Friday amid a warning from Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration that lowering it from 7.5% could have a “devastating” impact on funding for social services and education.

The issuers of the Midwest sold $41 billion of municipal bonds in the first half of 2016, spurred by increased new money issuance, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Chicago Public Schools is seeking a $400 million increase to its short term borrowing capacity to help manage its strained liquidity.

City Colleges of Chicago suffered a two-notch downgrade after it drew down reserves to balance its books amid uncertainty over the timing and size of future state funding.

An Illinois-based joint power agency heads into the market to refund $250 million of debt tied to the controversial coal-fired Prairie State Energy Campus.

Michigan's Wayne State University expects to return to the bond market to raise up to $14 million for the new business school for which it broke ground last month.

A new coalition of labor and business is hoping to persuade Illinois voters to support a constitutional amendment that would halt the diversion of transportation-related revenue.