Midwest

Illinois lawmakers head into their final two-week stretch, and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn plans to press his case with House Democrats for making an expiring temporary income tax permanent.

Missouri lawmakers wrapped up a busy 2014 session after passing income tax relief and overriding a veto, adopting a new fiscal 2015 budget, authorizing $600 million in borrowing, and sending to the ballot a sales tax hike for transportation.

The boards of two Illinois-based systems — Cadence Health and Northwestern Memorial HealthCare — on Thursday agreed to join forces.

Illinois acted within its sovereign authority when it passed last year's pension reforms given its precarious fiscal condition and the size of its unfunded pension obligations.

The Minnesota Legislature on Friday approved a $1 billion package of capital projects primarily financed with general obligation borrowing.

The fight over Detroit's proposed 10% recovery for its limited-tax general obligation bonds heated up last week as Ambac challenged the treatment as a failure to understand the basics of Chapter 9 and municipal finance.

Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's weighed in Thursday saying an Illinois judge's decision to temporarily halt implementation of the state's pension overhaul during a legal challenge does not pose an immediate credit concern.

Federal Judge Steven Rhodes Thursday shot down bond insurers' requests that they be given special access to Detroit's prized art collection for an independent valuation.

Michigan could see nearly $1 billion less than it expected over the next three years, fiscal officials warned Thursday.

The Minnesota House was expected to vote on a $1.1 billion capital budget that primarily relies on general obligation borrowing.