Whether 11 U.S.C. § 922(d) mandates that there is no automatic stay of debt enforcement actions with respect to pledged special revenues

QUESTION PRESENTED In 1988, Congress amended the Bankruptcy Code to provide a specific regime for the treatment of bond debt secured by “special revenues” in municipal bankruptcies. Among other amendments, Congress added an exception for “special revenues” to the provisions that otherwise establish a “stay of enforcement of claims against the debtor” during the pendency of bankruptcy proceedings. 11 U.S.C. §922(d). That exception mandates that filing a bankruptcy petition “does not operate as a stay of application of pledged special revenues.” Congress’s stated goal was to ensure that special revenue bondholders retain their “unimpaired rights to the [special] revenue pledged to them” even after a municipality has declared bankruptcy. S. Rep. No. 100-506, at 12. The question presented is: Whether 11 U.S.C. § 922(d) mandates that there is no automatic stay of debt enforcement actions with respect to pledged special revenues. (i)