Law and legal issues

The Providence, R.I., firefighters union, at odds with Mayor Jorge Elorza over a department reorganization, wants a court to vacate its 2013 pension settlement.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will face criminal charges for directing clients to a friend's securities advisory firm without registering as a financial advisor. He is the first Texas attorney general to face indictment in more than 30 years.

The latest top state court to weigh in on pension reforms ruled in Michigan last week that the state's pension reforms enacted in 2011 are constitutional, overturning two lower court decisions.

In Fitch Ratings' opinion, Puerto Rico's reported decision to miss an August 1 debt service payment on appropriation-backed debt (not rated by Fitch) due Monday, Aug. 3, is consistent with both the commonwealth's stated intent to restructure its debt and its current liquidity pressures.

Bankruptcies in Detroit, Jefferson County, Ala., and three California cities helped spawn a new breed of activist judges, who may use Chapter 9 cases as the platform not just for reorganizing municipal debt, but also for helping set the stage for turning distressed cities around.

San Bernardino reached a tentative agreement with the police union, but negotiations continue with its firefighters’ union and the holder and insurer of its pension obligation bonds.

Glendale, Ariz.'s renegotiated lease agreement with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes is a positive factor in the Phoenix suburb's A3 credit rating, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Numerous protestors plan to object to a Florida agency's approval of $1.75 billion of private activity bonds for a passenger train project.

A Cook County Circuit Court judge denied Chicago’s request to keep its court-voided pension reforms in place pending an appeal.

Standard & Poor's placed Palm Drive Health Care District, Calif.'s revenue debt on negative watch due to lack of timely information.

Moody’s upgraded Detroit by one notch Thursday, though leaving it deep in junk territory, as the city gears up for its first post-bankruptcy bond deal.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Thursday affirmed his earlier declaration that Wayne County is in a financial emergency, giving the county board until next week to choose among four partial takeover options.

An Alabama group wants to explain why it is suing to stop new revenue from flowing to cash-strapped Jefferson County, which emerged from bankruptcy 19 months ago.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew’s recommendation Tuesday to grant Puerto Rico municipalities and public entities access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection failed to convince Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that the administration has the clear plan that’s needed before Congress can act to help the territory.

The developer of the All Aboard Florida private passenger train system plans to quickly issue $1.75 billion of private activity bonds after approval of the deal.

Standard & Poor’s assigned an A rating and stable outlook to Detroit’s first post-bankruptcy bond sale, set for Aug. 19.

"Detroit's a much better credit than it was two years ago," its former emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, told a municipal bond market group.

Detroit is set to hit the market on August 19 with its first public bond sale since exiting the largest municipal bankruptcy in the U.S.

Jefferson County, Ala., residents appealing the county’s bankruptcy settlement are challenging a state law designed to provide the cash-strapped county with new revenue for capital.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants to leave the door open for a possible U.S. Supreme Court appeal after the state's high court voided a state pension system overhaul.