Midwest

CHICAGO — The Illinois General Assembly adjourned late last week after passing a fiscal 2011 budget that chips away at a $13 billion deficit primarily with one-time maneuvers — including a $1.7 billion tobacco bond financing — and by pushing off $6 billion in bills while leaving a $3.7 billion hole.

CHICAGO — St. Louis County will competitively sell $20 million of tax-exempt special obligation bonds and taxable recovery zone economic development bonds to finance construction of a new health care campus in Berkeley.

CHICAGO — Wisconsin’s first recovery zone facility bonds sold this week in a $30 million transaction that will help finance an expansion of Foremost Farms’ facilities, including a cheese manufacturing facility in Appleton and a whey processing plant in Marathon County.

CHICAGO — The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority plans in early to mid-June to sell $400 million of refunding bonds as it moves to shift a chunk of synthetic floating-to-fixed-rate debt to a traditional fixed-rate structure to reduce bank and liquidity risks.

CHICAGO — Ohio next week will price $20 million of taxable revenue bonds backed by profits from the state’s liquor sales, a revenue source unscathed by the recession.

CHICAGO — Putting aside partisan bickering over a fiscal 2011 budget, Illinois senators today will unite to vote on an override of Gov. Pat Quinn’s veto of a Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority reform bill that allows the agency to restructure its $2 billion of debt.

CHICAGO – In its second try yesterday, the Illinois House late Tuesday narrowly approved Gov. Pat Quinn’s proposal to issue $4 billion of general obligation bonds to cover the state’s fiscal 2011 pension payment.

CHICAGO — The trustee who represents owners of $46.6 million of taxable tribal gaming revenue bonds issued for the Lac du Flambeau tribe in Wisconsin is appealing a federal judge’s ruling that the tribe is not responsible for repaying the debt because the trust indenture’s structure required federal approval.

CHICAGO — The federal health care overhaul could cost Indiana up to $2.9 billion through 2020, a new report estimates.

CHICAGO — Triple-A rated Minneapolis today will competitively sell $130 million of general obligation bonds to raise funds for routine capital projects and to refund debt for about 12% of net present-value savings.