On Sunday, July 30, catcher Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Rodriguez, who signed with the Texas Rangers at 16 and made his major league debut before turning 20, was selected for baseball’s highest honor his first year on the ballot, joining Johnny Bench as the only catchers in baseball… Read more »

On the anniversary of the adoption of Puerto Rico’s constitution, Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico, spoke up for statehood for Puerto Rico on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. “Puerto Rico’s territorial constitution is 65 years old today. An act of Congress authorized the island’s people to pass a charter… Read more »

Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” has been streamed 4.6 billion times as of this writing, and has 2,662,615,500 views at YouTube. It is officially the most-streamed song of all time. The Justin Bieber remix has had 34,183,494 views at YouTube. The headlines the song has inspired include “Justin Bieber’s ‘Despacito’ Verse Is Boosting Tourism… Read more »

Tom Perez, the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, has endorsed statehood for Puerto Rico. As first reported in Politico, Perez has issued a statement that he believes Puerto Ricans should have the same rights as those on the mainland and that his personal view is that statehood is the best method to provide full… Read more »

The chairman of the congressional committee that originated PROMESA has asked the Puerto Rico fiscal control board put in place by the law to explain all future decisions in writing to the committee. The request by U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) came in a letter that primarily complained about… Read more »

A delegation from Puerto Rico including Governor Ricardo Rosselló, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón and Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz met with House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sen. Michael S. Lee (R-UT),  House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT), and other members of Congress. In these meetings, the focus was on two points: Puerto Rico’s need… Read more »

Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ) has introduced HR 2429, the Puerto Rico Task Force Economic Empowerment Act, in the House of Representatives. The comprehensive bill includes measures designed to “support businesses in Puerto Rico, improve health funding for Puerto Rico, and promote security in Puerto Rico.” An important part of the proposal is a set of measures… Read more »

Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY), who is the lead Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, has introduced a new bill, “The Puerto Rico Small Business Assistance Act,” designed to spur small business growth and entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico.” “We’ve seen time and again throughout the U.S. how entrepreneurship can be a path out of… Read more »

On April 7, two U.S. Senators, Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), wrote a letter to the PROMESA fiscal oversight management board [FOMB] expressing concern that the Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico is not compliant with the Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA). The letter went on to list those concerns:… Read more »

Updated to include the Velazquez Medicaid letter to Speaker Ryan. Congress is expected to pass this week legislation that provides $296 million for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program. The proposal, which was released early this morning, is scheduled for a vote before the House of Representatives on Wednesday.  A Senate vote could be held as early… Read more »