CHICAGO (AP) — Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Cook County’s credit rating, citing an ongoing county and state pension crisis. The agency announced Friday it’s lowering the rating on $3.7 billion in debt from Aa3 to A1. The new rating …

August 4, 2013 By: Kate Taylor Cities and towns across the country are pushing municipal unions to accept cheaper health benefits in anticipation of a component of the Affordable Care Act that will tax expensive plans starting in 2018. The …

August 1, 2013 By: Sun-Times Editorial Board Chicago is not Detroit, obviously. Chicago’s economy has little in common with one-industry Detroit. As City Hall’s finance folks tell us, Chicago isn’t even halfway down the road to becoming Detroit. But Chicago …

June 23, 2013 By: Doug Finke In March, the Institute for Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois published a paper outlining a plan to reform state university pensions. At the time, the paper got scant notice. Most …

June 18, 2013 By: Mark Peters and Douglas Belkin CHICAGO, IL – Desperate to solve the worst state pension crisis in the nation, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn earlier this month did what politicians have done here for decades—he called Michael …