Puerto Rico

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said on Wednesday night that he is instructing all House committees that have jurisdiction over Puerto Rico to work with commonwealth officials to come up with a “responsible solution” for their fiscal and debt crises by the end of March.

The omnibus spending bill for fiscal 2016 fails to contain any significant help for Puerto Rico, but that should come as no surprise as Republicans and Democrats are still divided over the approach that should be taken, said knowledgeable sources.

Lawmakers are considering a $1.15 trillion omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2016 that does not extend bankruptcy protection to Puerto Rico, and a more than $621 billion tax bill that would make permanent or extend expired tax provisions, including a few that are bond- and Puerto Rico-related.

Assured Guaranty’s chief executive officer is blasting the Treasury Department for pushing for bankruptcy protection for Puerto Rico, claiming the effort is blowing up utility authority negotiations with creditors and bondholders, as well as hurting the territory and alarming the municipal bond market.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said the campaign would be a distraction from his effort to handle the island’s fiscal crisis.

Puerto Rico on Monday cut its revenue projections for the current fiscal year by 5.2%.

Fitch Ratings said it maintained the Rating Watch Negative on the CC rating for the following Commonwealth of Puerto Rico debt: commonwealth of Puerto Rico GO bonds; Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) power revenue bonds; Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) senior lien revenue bonds; Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corporation (COFINA) senior lien sales tax revenue bonds and first subordinate lien sales tax revenue bonds; Employees Retirement System of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (ERS) pension funding bonds; Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority (PBA) government facilities revenue bonds guaranteed by the Commonwealth and rated by Fitch; and PRASA Commonwealth guaranty revenue bonds.

The filing by Republican lawmakers of two bills in the U.S. Congress that could assist Puerto Rico during its current financial crisis does not result in a change to Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' credit rating or outlook (CC/Negative) due what it sees as the uncertain chances for enactment of these bills.

Four of the five Puerto Rico authorities whose revenues were diverted to pay Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico notes on Dec. 1 are expected to make their own bond payments on Jan. 1. The exception may be the Puerto Rico Infrastructure Finance Authority.

The Republican chairs of three Senate committees that have jurisdiction over Puerto Rico and bankruptcy introduced a bill on Wednesday night that would establish an authority that could issue bonds and provide up $3 billion in resources to help Puerto Rico stabilize its budget and debt.