Economic development is a top priority for Puerto Rico. Often discussions of economic development in Puerto Rico focus on tax incentives designed to lure multinational corporations and major U.S. mainland companies to open a facility in Puerto Rico. Another possibility is to support local small businesses and start ups on the Island. Small business in… Read more »

On September 26, 2019, the Federal Communications Commission will vote on funding of up to $950 million for internet connectivity in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Chairman Ajit Pai created a draft order outlining the plan. At the FCC blog, he wrote that the FCC has already invested more than $130 million in repairs… Read more »

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats took steps in June towards providing Puerto Rico with $2.2 billion to $4 billion a year in more funding beginning this October 1st. The grants to the territorial government would be for three programs for low-income individuals. With Congress returning from its August recess next week, it remains to be… Read more »

Two videos on statehood for Puerto Rico have been posted on YouTube in the past few days. Teen Kids News, an Emmy-winning national news program for teens, recently shared a video made years ago. It relies heavily on interviews with former Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi. Teen Kids News recapped Puerto Rico’s history and explained Puerto… Read more »

Puerto Rico newspaper Noticel reported that multiple pro-statehood groups gathered for a march on September 1st, carrying signs saying, “We are many more and we are not afraid!” and “Puerto Rico Chose Statehood”. Participants reported an estimated 2,000 marchers. Noticel quoted Barbara Collazzo, one of the organizers, as expressing a need for “a peaceful march,… Read more »

Current federal policy treats babies born to members of the U.S. military who are serving overseas as birthright U.S. citizens no matter where they are born. For example, a couple living on a U.S. military base in Germany or Greenland might have a baby there on the base. The baby would automatically be a U.S…. Read more »

Hurricane Dorian is expected to hit Puerto Rico with winds of 66 miles an hour and as much as ten inches of rain. This is not expected to be as severe a storm as Hurricane Maria, which reached Puerto Rico in 2017 as a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of 175 miles per hour. The… Read more »

President Trump confirmed that he had chatted about buying Greenland, and soon it was suggested that he wanted to trade Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, for Greenland, one of three countries that make up the Kingdom of Denmark. The molehill Trump has confirmed that he has thought about and discussed the idea of buying Greenland…. Read more »

As Hawaii celebrates the 60th anniversary of the State’s admission into the Union, there continue to be some observers who think statehood was a mistake. Look more closely at their reasons, however, and you will see arguments against annexation, not statehood. Hawaii was a kingdom from 1810 until 1893, and then became a republic in… Read more »

The PROMESA Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) has released its required fiscal year report. This is the third annual report from the Board, which was established in 2016 as part of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act. The 81-page report was delivered with a letter from Chairman José Carrión, in which… Read more »