PROMESA

Major Puerto Rico bondholders are balking at a tentative agreement that would steer to owners of sales-tax-backed debt a large chunk of the revenue they’ve been pledged, threatening to prolong a fight over one of the biggest issues in the island’s record-setting bankruptcy.

A brief period of peace between the Oversight Board and the governor may soon end.

The proposed settlement may determine how much money is available for the biggest class of bondholders in Puerto Rico's municipal bankruptcy.

Magistrate Judge Judith Dein said she'd take up the investigation issue at a June 18 hearing.

The bankuptcy court will hear a motion Wednesday to allow the probe, which could undercut billions of dollars in bondholder claims.

The disagreement over at-will employment is the latest episode on a struggle over policy measures intended to pull the territory out of recession and help in payment of its debt.

Investors, already frustrated with the lack of progress since PROMESA was passed, face at least another two years before most debt payments will resume.

Judge said that the relevant issues include federal as well as local law.

The Oversight Board's executive director said the budget's future is linked to government introduction of at-will employment law.

Magistrate Judge Judith Dein's decision may help creditors in their battle over the territory's fiscal plan and debt payments.

The board gave up on plan to reduce paid vacation and sick time and eliminate Christmas bonuses, but gained a promise of island-wide at-will employment.

The decline in the unemployment rate is mostly due to emigration, a challenge as the territory restructures its debt.

The National Federation of Municipal Analysts is concerned that a district court ruling on Puerto Rico highway bonds could be a landmark change for the worse when it comes to how investors view revenue bonds.

The Puerto Rico Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 would implement some of the recommendations made by a congressional task force as well as provisions left out of disaster relief legislation, according to the two Republican senators who offered it.

April’s General Fund collection was 15.7% higher than that of April 2017.

The effort by bondholders to work together is seen as a "positive development," though their plan was quickly rejected by the government.

The consensual plan for $4.2 billion of Government Development Bank bonds amounts to repayment of 55 cents on the dollar.

GAO says Congress should consider giving SEC penalty authority over issuers, stripping Puerto Rico's triple-tax exemption,and expanding investor protection.

Bondholders will have to rely on the Oversight Board or the courts for debt service, analysts said.

Puerto Rico would have to have a vibrant economy and a stable government that is fiscally sound, said Rep. Rob Bishop.