Law and legal issues

The risk of a state takeover of the bankrupt utility, which Gov. Gavin Newsom has suggested, is not incorporated into California's rating, S&P said.

In Massachusetts, cannabis regulation fuels a corruption investigation; in Rhode Island, it pits the executive branch against the legislature.

A special master will hear oral arguments Thursday in the federal lawsuit Florida filed in 2013, as both states incur significant legal costs.

The ruling is credit negative but the district has a large budget and revenue-raising flexibility to absorb the liability, Moody's Investors Service says.

The proposed settlement, filed in federal district court in New York late last week, would bring to a close the SEC’s case against Navnoor Kang, Deborah Kelley and Gregg Schonhorn.

In the SEC inquiry, along with a separate FAA investigation, regulators are trying to determine if airport revenues were misspent.

One plan would convert the investor-owned utility into a customer-owned cooperative, while local governments and agencies look at municipalizing PG&E assets.

A Senate committee has approved a bill requiring remote sellers to collect the state's 6% sales tax. It could generate $700 million in new revenue.

The South Carolina-owned utility redeemed $360 million as part of a two-year plan to reduce debt and stabilize electric rates for five years.

The suit challenges the State Bond Commission's policy of excluding bond underwriters with policies that limit their lending to some gun makers and sellers.

New York’s Suffolk County Off-Track Betting Corp. is suing the operator of a video lottery terminal parlor opened to support its Chapter 9 restructuring.

The Florida Department of Transportation’s new legal challenges may determine the fate of the Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a non-public letter to the city of Atlanta last week, prompting a possible investigation into its airport.

The Berkeley County School District and its former financial advisors and bond counsel said settlement talks were unsuccessful.

As a decision looms on Preston Hollow's antitrust accusations against Nuveen, the case's judge approved moving a dismissed claim to another court.

Also revealed is the addition of longtime NABL member Perry Israel to the Edelweiss Fund legal team.

The Florida Department of Transportation filed motions with an appellate court challenging the Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority’s lower-court wins.

Judge John Cooper’s decision could set the stage for an appeal in the Miami-Dade County Expressway Authority’s litigation.

The legal teams for Baltimore and Philadelphia asked the court to reject the banks’ plausibility argument as well as their claim that the suit is barred by a four-year statute of limitations.

The judge overseeing Preston Hollow Capital's anti-trust lawsuit against Nuveen could rule any day on the claims.