Midwest

Illinois returns to the market in January with a $480 million bond deal after a 20-month absence during which its ratings fell and its unpaid bill backlog skyrocketed, and with a state budget six months overdue.

The Chicago Public Schools’ cash crisis triggered a new downgrade that market participants say could scare off some buyers and further drive up its already steep spread premiums.

The Federal Trade Commission has moved to block the proposed merger of Illinois-based Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University Health System citing to anti-competition concerns.

A Wisconsin town has won back its investment grade rating after renegotiating direct purchase contracts with its banks.

The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority board signed off on a 2016 Budget that counts on $1.3 billion in revenues for maintenance, operations, debt service, and capital costs.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission won an upgrade of its subordinate bond credit after a new review.

The Chicago Board of Education voted to move ahead with two borrowing items to help keep the struggling Chicago Public Schools afloat.

The College of DuPage, Ill. board chairwoman Kathy Hamilton, who spearheaded reform efforts that also led to the ouster of the college president and the school’s finance team, abruptly resigned.

Indiana would build a new $120 million bond-financed mental health facility in what Gov. Mike Pence’s administration is billing as an affordable option that will usher in a new model of care

The junk-rated Chicago Public Schools, on track to run out of cash next month, will add $120 million to its delayed $1 billion bond sale and dip into a new credit line for another $130 million.