Puerto Rico House bankruptcy bill adds co-sponsors

NEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - A bill to allow Puerto Rico's
distressed public agencies to access Chapter 9 bankruptcy laws
has drawn several Democratic co-sponsors but is not a partisan
move, the U.S. commonwealth's representative in Congress said on
Tuesday.
Puerto Rico, with $72 billion debt and in recession for
nearly a decade, is trying to renegotiate its debt. The U.S.
territory defaulted in August by paying only a fraction of what
was due on some bonds.
Puerto Rico's representative in Congress, Pedro Pierluisi,
introduced the bill - to allow public agencies and
municipalities access to Chapter 9 - in February, in the U.S.
House of Representatives. Democrats in the U.S. Senate
introduced a companion bill in July.
Neither bill has attracted support of Republicans, who
control both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Chapter 9 is the bankruptcy statute governing municipal
filings and gives a framework for creditors and debtors to work
out their differences. It was used for the city of Detroit.
Among the more than dozen legislators added as co-sponsors
to the House bill were: Nancy Pelosi, House of Representatives
Democratic leader; Xavier Becerra, chairman of the House
Democratic Caucus; John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House
Judiciary Committee; and Hank Johnson, the top Democrat on the
House Judiciary Subcommittee, Pierluisi said in a press release.
Several other democrats also co-sponsored the bill.
"It is important to emphasize that this legislation is not,
and should never be regarded as, partisan," Pierluisi said in
the statement. He said the legislation had been endorsed by at
least 90 organizations and individuals, including numerous
conservative individuals and organizations.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, Republican chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the
Chapter 9 bill in the Senate, said last week that he was
skeptical of allowing Chapter 9 bankruptcy, as it alone would
not solve Puerto Rico's problems. Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Republican, also expressed skepticism
regarding Chapter 9 for the island. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N11Z1C5