Local government: bankruptcy: neutral evaluation.

Under existing law, any taxing agency or instrumentality of the state may file a petition and prosecute to completion bankruptcy proceedings permitted under the laws of the United States. This bill would prohibit a local public entity from filing under federal bankruptcy law unless the local public entity has participated in a specified neutral evaluation process with interested parties, as defined, or the local public entity has declared a fiscal emergency and has adopted a resolution by a majority vote of the governing board at a noticed public hearing that includes findings that the financial state of the local public entity jeopardizes the health, safety, or well-being of the residents of the local public entity's jurisdiction or service area absent bankruptcy protections.