Puerto Rico has asked a U.S. court for a quick decision in its appeal against a federal court ruling that voided a local bankruptcy law, arguing that the decision hampers its efforts to deal with a financial emergency that could disrupt basic public services on the Caribbean island, Reuters reported on Friday. A federal court struck down Puerto Rico's Recovery Act earlier this month in a blow to the U.S. commonwealth's efforts to restructure up to $20 billion in debt at three main public corporations. Puerto Rico passed the act last year because it is excluded from the U.S. bankruptcy code. In papers filed on Thursday with the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, Puerto Rico argued that the law represented an "emergency response to the most profound fiscal crisis in Commonwealth history." The filing said unilateral action by creditors such as accelerating debt repayments from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, suing to raise electricity rates, or seeking to appoint a receiver would "disrupt the provision of essential public services in Puerto Rico."
In related news, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law will hold a hearing Thursday at 11:30 a.m. to examine H.R. 870, the "Puerto Rico Chapter 9 Uniformity Act of 2015." The legislation was introduced on Feb. 11 by Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico Pedro Pierluisi to amend the Bankruptcy Code to include Puerto Rico as a "State" for purposes of who may be a debtor under chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code. To read the full text of H.R. 870, please click here.
