Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection bill for Puerto Rico to be filed in US Senate

It seems that the crisis in Puerto Rico has spurred action in Congress after all. Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi has shared on his Facebook page a note with a report from Bloomberg, as of yet not published, in which it says Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) will sponsor a bill allowing for the government agencies in Puerto Rico to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.

The bill would be a companion to HR 870, the Puerto Rico Chapter 9 Uniformity Act of 2015, which as of publishing time, had a 0% of being enacted according to Govtrack.us.

“Senator Blumenthal and I will introduce this bill either way, but we are hoping to get Republican cosponsors to make this bill bipartisan,”‎Schumer said Tuesday in an e-mailed statement to Bloomberg.

Interestingly, Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), minority leader in the US House, also expressed her support, stating through a representative that she “believes House Republicans should bring this legislation for a vote as soon as the House is back in session.”

The bill comes a day after news broke that Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla decided Puerto Rico could  not pay its debts. In a report, economist Anne Krueger recommended a series a reforms, including lobbying for access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy protections for the public agencies at play, such as the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, which has a $416 million payment due on Wednesday it might not be able to meet.