Puerto Rico’s $72 billion debt saga has become a booming business for Washington, D.C., lobbyists, who are developing websites, creating advertisements and lining up the support of conservative advocacy groups, Bloomberg News reported today. The junk-rated island’s woes have been a topic of debate on Capitol Hill since February, when Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s resident commissioner in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced H.R. 870. to amend the Bankruptcy Code to treat Puerto Rico as a state. The bill would give Puerto Rico the option to authorize its municipalities and public agencies to file for chapter 9 protection. Chapter 9 currently doesn’t apply in Puerto Rico, a territory since the Spanish-American War.
