WASHINGTON - Retired Detroit bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes and three House members will participate in a two-day meeting in Florida later this month to come up with some solutions to address Puerto Rico's fiscal and health care crises.
The meeting, which will take place Oct. 14-15 in Orlando, will include Reps. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y., Luis Gutiérrez, D-Ill., and Jose Serrano, D-N.Y., as well as local elected officials and nonprofit leaders, according to a release.
The meeting is to "develop a national Puerto Rican agenda and provide actionable strategies to address major issues facing the Commonwealth, including the fiscal and healthcare crisis," the release stated.
A spokesman for the meeting was unable to provide more details.
Rhodes, who sat on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan and formerly served on the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Sixth Circuit, retired in February after 30 years on the bench. He presided over Detroit's bankruptcy proceedings. He has lectured and written widely on bankruptcy law and procedures. He also has written several books, including, "The Ponzi Book: A Legal Resource for Unraveling Ponzi Schemes," "Supplementing the Tools in the Trustee's Toolbox," and "The Ethical Obligations of a Chapter 7 Trustee."
Velázquez, the top Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, recently introduced a bill, H.R. 3610, to extend federal investment law protections to Puerto Ricans, many of whom invested in highly leveraged, risky mutual funds and suffered losses as a result.
Gutiérrez is on the House Judiciary Committee where a bill is pending to provide Puerto Rico authorities and municipalities with access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection.
Serrano is the ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee's subcommittee on financial services and general government. He is a co-sponsor of Velázquez's bill.
Meanwhile, in an open letter published as an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said the territory's fiscal, economic and immediate liquidity crisis "has passed the tipping point" and that its situation "is far worse than what any jurisdiction in the United States has faced in generations."
Garcia Padilla said Puerto Rico has done everything it can to address the crisis, "but we cannot achieve a sustainable path forward if our hands are tied."
"Congress must act to provide the Commonwealth with access to a legal framework to restructure its liabilities in an orderly manner and avoid a potentially long and chaotic situation that will cause further disruptions in our economy," he said. "We also need equitable Medicaid and Medicare funding to repair our broken healthcare system."
The governor, who reported paid $150 for the ad, said the territory is not looking for a "bailout."
