Law and legal issues

The House Natural Resources Committee will meet to vote on the recently revised Puerto Rico bill starting on Tuesday and continuing the following day.

House members, government officials, and stakeholders all say the newest version of a bill to help Puerto Rico is a step forward, but their support for the measure seems tepid at best.

Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate ruled that Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin acted properly when he ordered higher education budget cuts.

The Town of Ramapo, N.Y. took a two-notch downgrade Wednesday from Moody’s Investors Service, which cut it to A3 citing “increased risk” from federal charges that have resulted in a near-term management disruption.

The Kentucky Bond Corp. will use its highly rated pool bond program to help Hillview fund a legal settlement negotiated after the city filed for bankruptcy.

The Texas Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Texas’ “Byzantine” school funding formula will end three years of litigation but have no immediate impact on state or local school district credits, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has said oral arguments will be held in Jefferson County, Ala.’s bankruptcy case, although dates for those arguments have been set three times then postponed without a reason.

Central Falls, R.I.'s last proposed budget under a five-year bankruptcy plan shows a capital markets underpinning that includes a rainy-day fund.

Presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday urged the federal government to extend emergency loans to Puerto Rico to aid in debt restructuring. But he opposed the idea of a control board, which has been a cornerstone of legislation proposed by House Republicans.

Despite House Republican threats of criminal prosecution, the District of Columbia Council will hold the first of two votes Tuesday that would give the district budget autonomy and the ability to spend its local tax and fee revenues without annual congressional appropriation.

The trustee firm in many recent troubled bond deals assembled by accused fraudster Christopher Brogdon is taking a harder line against the former employee it blames for its involvement in the mess.

Allegations of securities violations against Calvin Grigsby should be dismissed, an Illinois hearing officer recommended in a case that stemmed from his firm Grigsby & Associates advising a state agency to invest in a bank that later failed.

East Cleveland, Ohio's pursuit of Chapter 9 bankruptcy shouldn't hurt the city's school district, Moody's Investors Service says.

German Pellets Texas LLC and Texas Pellets Inc. filed petitions for Chapter 11 reorganization last month with $184.7 million of tax-exempt industrial development bonds outstanding.

The Texas Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state’s school finance system, ending four years of litigation over unequal funding.

Puerto Rico will need help from Washington to maintain future market access and avoid a descent into "third-world" economic conditions, municipal bond fund managers said.

The House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday postponed its scheduled release of a new bill to help Puerto Rico for what members hope will be only one day as discussions about acceptable revisions continued.

Michigan’s state treasurer has sided with the state Senate over the state House after the two houses developed different legislation to restructure Detroit Public Schools.

Miami’s “dramatically improving and diverse economy” was a driving force that led Moody's Investors Service to upgrade the city’s general obligation bonds to Aa3 from A1, despite pending SEC and pension suits.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is using Peter Cannava, a banker involved in an ill-fated private placement for a startup video game company, as a scapegoat and has no basis for charging him with defrauding investors, his lawyers claimed this week.