Law and legal issues

Nebraska legislators will hold a public hearing March 3 on a bill that would give bondholders priority over retirees in the event of a bankruptcy.

A day after Wayne County officials warned of a grim financial picture, Moody's Investors Service stripped the county of its investment-grade rating and Fitch Ratings put its already junk-bond ratings on negative watch.

Fitch Ratings, which already maintains junk ratings on Wayne County, Mich., put the ratings on a negative watch just hours after the release of a new audit that warns the county could be out of cash by next summer.

Having sold its incinerator, Harrisburg, Pa., has a new symbol of a deal gone sour: a 12-story downtown office building, subject of a $6.9 million borrowing in 1998 that straddled the city with $42 million in debt service the city recently restructured.

Connecticut will receive $36 million of a $1.4 billion multistate settlement with Standard & Poor's over allegations that S&P misled investors, state officials announced.

The newly elected head of Wayne County Michigan, home to Detroit, warned Thursday that the county is on track to run out of cash by August 2016, calling it “financial Armageddon.”

In a formal written opinion, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein reiterated that bankruptcy law gave Stockton, Calif. the legal authority to impair pensions, even though the city chose not to.

The Republican parties of New York State and Tennessee will square off against the Securities and Exchange Commission in oral arguments in a federal court March 23 over rules restricting finance professionals from giving money to political candidates.

The Association of Bay Area Governments plans to reimburse San Francisco the $1.3 million missing from a city redevelopment fund after an alleged theft by its finance director and conduct a forensic audit the transactions he worked on.

Ex-JPMorgan bankers have asked a federal judge to dismiss federal pay-to-play charges related to the sewer deals that helped push Jefferson County, Ala., into bankruptcy.

As if bond rating downgrades, a $50 billion unfunded pension liability and teetering school districts weren’t enough, Pennsylvania must wrestle with more political scandal as its treasurer resigns to plead guilty after a federal investigation.

Moody's Investors Service has placed Kern County under review for a possible downgrade affecting approximately $86 million in debt.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a motion for summary judgment in its securities fraud case against two former JPMorgan bankers involved in Jefferson County's sewer deals and swaps.

Pennsylvania Treasurer Rob McCord resigned late Friday, effective immediately, as news reports swirled that he will plead guilty to charges of threatening would-be campaign contributors with the loss of state business.

Harrisburg, Pa., Mayor Eric Papenfuse on Friday signed off on a restructuring agreement for bonds tied to the city's Verizon Center building despite his objections, and called for an investigation into the original 1998 bond deal.

The appointment of an emergency manager for Atlantic City has led many to question whether the city is heading for bankruptcy, which would mark long uncharted territory for the Garden State.

Clarke Howatt, finance director for the Association of Bay Area Governments, is being sought by San Francisco law enforcement officials in the theft of $1.3 million in bond money from a regional planning agency, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Newly inaugurated Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will not face prosecution from the embattled Travis County District Attorney's office for violating state securities law.

A taxpayers' group in San Diego County won a legal battle in its challenge to the way the school district spends its voter approved bonds.

Colorado lawmakers may get their day before the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the Taxpayer Bill of Rights that requires voter approval of all tax increases in the state.