Jan. 27 at 9:41 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government
By Kathy Bergen
Illinois’ fiscal woes have translated into another dubious distinction for the state: A newly released analysis by Moody’s Investors Service ranks Illinois among the five states with the highest debt and pension funding needs.
Connecticut has the greatest funding needs, followed by Hawaii, Massachusetts, Mississippi and Illinois, Moody’s found.
Moody’s looked at each state’s combined pension and long-term debt as a percentage of personal income, gross domestic product and state revenue, and calculated its debt per capita. Illinois’ combined pension and debt burden translates to $6,692 per person, fifth highest in the country. Get the full story »
Jan. 26 at 10:55 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Health care
By Reuters
Women who have breast implants may be at greater risk for a rare but serious cancer, U.S. health regulators warned Wednesday.
The Food and Drug Administration said it is looking at a possible link between silicone and saline breast implants and a type of anaplastic large cell lymphoma, which targets the immune system. The agency said overall it still believes implants are safe. Get the full story »
Jan. 26 at 6:08 a.m.
Filed under:
Economy,
Government
By Reuters
Business leaders in Davos gave a mixed reaction on Wednesday to the austerity steps proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama in his State of the Union speech, with some questioning whether they go far enough.
In a speech on Tuesday outlining a more bipartisan political agenda, Obama offered corporate tax cuts and a five-year partial federal spending freeze that he said would cut $400 billion from budget deficits over a decade. Get the full story »
Jan. 25 at 11:44 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Retirement
By Monique Garcia and Kathy Bergen | The Securities and Exchange Commission is conducting an inquiry into the state’s financial disclosures about potential savings expected from the pension reforms enacted last spring, Gov. Patrick Quinn’s office confirmed Tuesday morning.
“This is not an investigation, this is an inquiry,” said Kelly Kraft, the governor’s budget spokeswoman. “The SEC has stated this is not an indication of any violation. We feel our disclosures have always been accurate and complete.” Get the full story »
Jan. 25 at 9:46 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Investing,
Regulations
By Dow Jones Newswires
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued draft proposals Tuesday to require hedge fund and other private fund advisers to file periodic reports with regulators seeking to assess threats to the financial system. Get the full story »
Jan. 24 at 4:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Bankruptcy,
Government
By Reuters
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor on Monday dismissed the idea that states should be allowed to declare bankruptcy, diminishing the possibility that any legislation opening bankruptcy courts to the states will work its way through Congress.
Cantor, speaking to reporters, was reacting to reports last week that some fellow Republican members of Congress were preparing legislation to allow cash-strapped states to declare bankruptcy as an alternative to turning to the federal government for financial help. Get the full story »
Jan. 24 at 1:55 p.m.
Filed under:
Crime,
Fraud,
Government,
Health care
By CNN
The federal government recovered a record total of more than $2.5 billion from health care fraud last year, according to a government report issued Monday.
Results reflect both the continuing array of efforts to swindle the government Medicare program and a stepped-up effort by law enforcement to combat them, officials said. Get the full story »
Jan. 24 at 10:35 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Jobs/employment,
Litigation
By Reuters
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a federal law barring retaliation against a worker for complaints about on-the-job discrimination also protected the employee’s relative from unlawful dismissal.
The high court unanimously ruled for Eric Thompson, who was fired from his job at a stainless steel manufacturing plant in Kentucky after his fiancee, who also worked there, filed a discrimination complaint. Get the full story »
Jan. 24 at 7:13 a.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Transportation
By Dow Jones Newswires-Wall Street Journal
With red ink showing no sign of stopping, the U.S. Postal Service is hoping to ramp up a cost-cutting program that is already eliciting yelps of pain around the country. Beginning in March, the agency will start the process of closing as many as 2,000 post offices, on top of the 491 it said it would close starting at the end of last year.
In addition, it is reviewing another 16,000 — half of the nation’s existing post offices — that are operating at a deficit, and lobbying Congress to allow it to change the law so it can close the most unprofitable among them. The law currently allows the postal service to close post offices only for maintenance problems, lease expirations or other reasons that don’t include profitability. Get the full story »
Jan. 21 at 4:45 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Investing
By Reuters
Fitch Ratings raised its credit outlook for Illinois to stable from negative Friday, citing the recent increase in corporate and personal income taxes. Get the full story »
Jan. 21 at 3:03 p.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Government
By Reuters
Concerns that the Federal Reserve could suffer losses on its massive bond holdings may have driven the central bank to adopt a little-noticed accounting change with huge implications: it makes insolvency much less likely.
The significant shift was tucked quietly into the Fed’s weekly report on its balance sheet and phrased in such technical terms that it was not even reported by financial media when originally announced on Jan. 6. Get the full story »
Jan. 21 at 1:23 p.m.
Filed under:
Education,
Government,
Litigation,
Regulations
By Reuters
A group of for-profit schools filed a lawsuit against the federal government Friday to stop implementation of three costly new rules.
The rules were part of a larger package of new regulations being imposed on the for-profit sector, which has been accused of churning out poorly educated students with large debts. Get the full story »
Jan. 21 at 12:44 p.m.
Filed under:
Airplanes,
China,
Government,
International
By Dow Jones Newswires
China’s top aviation regulator said Friday that it aimed to work jointly with U.S. authorities on certifying the planned new C919 passenger jet.
The aircraft is seen as the first shot in China’s effort to break the duopoly in large civil aircraft held by Airbus and Boeing Co. and securing approval from overseas regulators will be crucial in finding customers outside the country’s fast-growing domestic market. Get the full story »
Jan. 21 at 11:02 a.m.
Filed under:
Banking,
Government,
Taxes
By Becky Yerak
The chief executive of Chicago’s biggest homegrown bank says the city’s business community expected the state to hike taxes, but that the Illinois legislature needs to also quickly address spending that’s contributing to deep budget deficits.
Illinois’ corporate income tax rate recently rose from 4.8 percent to 7 percent. Earlier this week Northern Trust Corp. said it expects the tax hike to reduce its earnings by about $4 million a year. Get the full story »
By Reuters
The World Trade Organization will issue a confidential final ruling Jan. 31 concerning European claims that Boeing benefited from unfair aircraft subsidies, sources familar with the case said on Friday.
The report, which will not be made public for several weeks, is the latest round of legal Ping-Pong between the European Union and United States over mutual claims their aircraft industries have been unfairly shielded from competition. Get the full story »
