Expressing concern about the fiscal impact of legislation passed during the just-ended session of the Legislative Assembly, Puerto Rico’s Federal Oversight and Management Board reached out to Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz and House of Representatives Speaker Carlos “Johnny” Mendez last week in a letter —  also sent to the Governor — regarding the legislature’s handling… Read more »

One area of Puerto Rico’s economy has been showing growth this year: tourism. Visitor arrivals hit an all-time high of 210,000 in January of 2019. This was about a 25% increase over the monthly average from the past decade. According to government estimates in September, Puerto Rico predicted four million tourists in 2019, following a 17% rise… Read more »

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) introduced the Office of Territorial Exporting Act, which passed as part of H.R. 4863, House Democrats’ larger bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Export-Import Bank The Export-Import Bank is an official credit agency of the United States specializing in exports. The services of the bank include the following: export credit… Read more »

Puerto Rico’s Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) should have a private sector operator for much of its operations by the end of the year, according to the Director of the territory’s Public-Private Partnerships Authority (P3). Fermin Fontanez was quoted today as saying that there is a preferred operator among the bidders that responded to an… Read more »

Baseball is important in Puerto Rico. For more than a century, baseball has brought communities together, encouraged young people, and created heroes for the Island. Hurricane Maria damaged community baseball spaces across Puerto Rico, but now a new initiative has arisen to rebuild ball fields. “Play Ball Again” is the name of the project, launched… Read more »

The Puerto Rico Statehood Admissions Act of 2019 (HR 4901) currently has 46 co-sponsors, both Democratic and Republican. The bill calls for a new status plebiscite in Puerto Rico, with a commitment from Congress to take action on the vote. Many of the co-sponsors have made statements explaining why they support the act. Here are… Read more »

The Gainesville Sun published an article called “Editorial: Should Puerto Rico Get Statehood?” Surprisingly, there is no answer to that question included in the editorial. Congressman Michael Waltz (R-FL) may have been the impetus for the article when he decided to co-sponsor HR 4091, the Puerto Rico Statehood Admissions Act of 2019. As the Sun… Read more »

The Government of Puerto Rico lost $235 million in U.S. Government appropriations for the territory’s Medicaid program September 30th. It could lose another $40 million by January 1st, the Interim Director of the territorial Health Insurance Administration (ASES), Yolanda Garcia, admitted today. The acknowledgement comes after Resident Commissioner in the U.S. House of Representatives Jenniffer… Read more »

Comic strips have a history of activism, and Puerto Rico has added to that history with a superhero called La Borinqueña. Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, the creator of the series, received the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award at Comic-Con, a major conference for fans and professionals in the comic world. La Borinqueña’s costume was displayed at the Smithsonian… Read more »

In the course of U.S. history, thirty-two territories have transitioned to become States of the Union, and it is easy to forget that all of them had anti-statehood factions. In Hawaii, where 90% of registered voters turned out for the statehood vote and the results were seventeen to one in favor of statehood, anti-statehood forces… Read more »