Budgets

The affirmation at Baa3 removed the threat Moody's would send Illinois to junk.

Chicago school officials pledged to open on time after Labor Day.

Indiana's reserves were lower despite its eighth consecutive surplus.

The rating agency cited state budget volatility that affects local government aid.

Wisconsin Senate leaders remain at odds with Assembly leaders over transportation capital funding.

Prefunding would help local governments begin to tackle mounting retiree benefit costs, the report said.

The action certified the city's five-year fiscal plan, though the board noted concern about low reserves.

The concerns have arisen in the weeks following a round of budget negotiations that was particularly tough for several states.

The Illinois governor says he will use his amendatory veto powers to shift some Chicago school aid to other districts.

Lawmakers will get a chance to override the governor's vetoes.

S&P dropped Alaska to AA amid dwindling budget reserves.

Sean Carney, director and head of municipal strategy at BlackRock, talks about municipal issuance in the first half of 2017 and makes some predictions on how the second half of the year will look. He also discusses distressed states — which state could recover first and why and how a downgrade of Illinois would be a big deal for the market. Hosted by Aaron Weitzman in a conversation recorded on June 29.

The city's finances and bond ratings are strong, Kasim Reed told the Brookings conference.

Fitch took Illinois off negative watch, while keeping a negative outlook on its BBB rating.

The 11.2% return for fiscal 2017 represents a big rebound from the previous year.

The end of the two-year budget drought in Illinois is a mixed bag for “downstream” credits.

The state's Supreme Court may order state lawmakers to increase K-12 spending.

Pension funding woes drove the downgrade and continued negative outlook.

Alaska, unable to agree on budget stability, is blowing through its reserves.

State balance sheets were driven by a new accounting standard that require reporting pension obligations.