Yet another delay in the wait for action in Congress on the Puerto Rico crisis. This time the culprit is the blizzard that struck the capital this past weekend, which has forced the postponement of the hearing by the US House of Representatives Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian, Insular and Alaska Native Affairs until February 2.
Also, the republican governor of Arizona Douglas Ducey has expressed himself against the proposal by the Obama administration to grant territories access to a Super Chapter 9, that would enable the territorial governments themselves to file bankruptcy.
The hearing is expected to include testimony from: Anthony Williams, the former mayor of Washington D.C., which had a control board for several years; James Spiotto, managing director of Chapman Strategic Advisors in Chicago and bankruptcy expert; Carlos Garcia, the former chairman and president of Puerto Rico Government Development Bank; Simon Johnson, a professor of global economics and management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Thomas Moers Mayer, a partner with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel law firm in New York, according to a congressional aide.
While the hearing will not directly address Super Chapter 9 for the entire Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a proposal from the Treasury Department included the idea and discussion of it has come up during past congressional hearings.
So if you are of the few who hope for swift action from Congress, sit back and readjust your expectations. This is going to take a while.
