Press Releases

Today, at the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law Hearing on the Role of Public Employee Pensions in Contributing to State Insolvency, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr.  rejected the proposal to have states file for bankruptcy to relieve them of their contractual obligations, such as collective bargaining agreements and pension funding commitments, under bankruptcy law.

“Let’s face it.  This effort to have states file for bankruptcy is simply a blatant attack on public sector employees and unions,” Conyers said.  “More than an attack on public employees and unions, if undertaken, states’ filing for bankruptcy would do more harm than good in compromising its bonds ratings, which could result in higher interest rates for municipal bonds and reduce states’ availability of credit.  Now doesn’t Congress have more important concerns to deal with? Rather than wasting time on this proposal, we should be devoting our resources to the real problems Americans are facing, namely joblessness and home foreclosures.

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