AB 1692 is growing in infamy. Local government groups first raised the alarm, which was echoed on PublicCEO. Now Sac Bee columnist Dan Walters is also calling attention to the bill.

AB 1692 would unravel many of the compromises over AB 506, turning a good bill back into an unprecedented grab of local government authority.

Walter’s column isn’t a call to action as many of the other pieces on the topic have been. Instead, it briefly spells out what the conversation is and why it is once again reappearing on the Assembly agenda. At the end of the day, the immediate interest in the AB 506 process from two cities has the Capitol and its interests wondering if tighter controls to restructuring debts are a good idea.

Should AB 1692 be approved as it currently stands, it would be the first time roadblocks, if not full on prohibitions to bankruptcy, have ever been implemented in California.

From the Sacramento Bee:

When Vallejo declared bankruptcy in 2008, one collateral consequence was a years-long political duel in the Capitol between lobbyists for local governments and those for unions representing their workers.

Unions pushed legislation that would have required local governments to get permission from an obscure state agency before filing for bankruptcy – an agency that is and probably always will be dominated by union-friendly Democratic politicians.

Read the full article here.