Law and legal issues

Sierra Kings Health Care District voters Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a proposed sale of the bankrupt hospital to Adventist Health.

California Controller John Chiang has said he will withhold lawmakers’ salaries if they fail to pass a balanced budget by June 15.

A court-appointed judicial hearing officer has determined that e-mails sent between New York Insurance Department officials showed bias regarding the restructuring of bond insurer MBIA Insurance Corp.

The proposed $1.2 billion University Medical Center in New Orleans may be built with the proceeds from bonds supported solely by hospital revenue if federal mortgage insurance is denied for the debt.

Former Jefferson County commissioner Chris McNair on Monday reported to a federal prison in Illinois to begin a five-year sentence for corruption related to contracts for rebuilding the county’s sewer system, according to the Birmingham News.

CHICAGO — Following passage of a new state law aimed at assuaging investor fears of bankruptcy, the city of Ecorse next week will sell $9.3 million of financial recovery bonds, making it one of Michigan’s only municipalities to enter the bond market while under state-controlled receivership.

Rhode Island lawmakers are considering a package of bills related to municipal bankruptcies.

The State Board of Accountancy has dropped its investigation into whether Surprise chief financial officer Scott McCarty unlawfully claimed he was a certified public accountant in Arizona.

WASHINGTON Three former officials from CDR Financial Products Inc. are urging a federal judge to dismiss the Justice Department’s charges against them, arguing prosecutors should not proceed to trial on a fraud theory the Supreme Court rejected last year.

CHICAGO — The Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District has submitted a proposal to its rate-setting commission asking voters for authority to issue $945 million of bonds in coming years to fund capital projects, many of which are required under a tentative $4.7 billion agreement reached with federal authorities to settle a lawsuit.

SAN FRANCISCO — Stockton may not exactly be the next Vallejo, but similarities between the two California cities have started people talking.

Regulators denied Ambac Assurance Corp.’s requests that it be allowed to pay interest on all its outstanding surplus notes due June 7.

CHICAGO — The St. Paul Port Authority and lawyers for a group of investors who hold a portion of its 876 Fund economic development revenue bonds will return to court later this month as litigation proceeds over the fate of $51 million of defaulted debt.

CHICAGO — Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has joined Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP — the top-ranked legal firm for city bond deals ­­— in an of counsel role in which the firm intends to draw on his experience and relationships to bolster its continued growth, officials announced Wednesday.

An attorney representing banks holding MBIA Insurance policies guaranteeing structured finance products argued Tuesday that the $5 billion restructuring of MBIA’s insurance subsidiary was done without giving a group of policy-owning banks a chance to object.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Less than 30 days remain before an expected payment default on the bonds issued by the Santa Rosa Bay Bridge Authority to build the tolled 3.5-mile-long Garcon Point Bridge in northern Florida.

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California has ruled that the city of Alameda did not commit securities fraud in a deal with Nuveen Investments even if it may have intentionally misled bondholders.

Democratic legislators filed two suits last week in an effort to overturn as unconstitutional New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez’s line-item vetoes of two bills. The lawsuits were filed with the state Supreme Court on May 25.

Fitch Ratings said in a report this week that California’s financial future remains clouded despite recent budget progress.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed has called on the City Council to declare a fiscal emergency in an effort to reduce pension and retiree health benefits.