Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee about Puerto Rico’s priorities in fiscal year 2021. The U.S. government’s fiscal year begins on October 1st. The budget each year is built on information gathered from leaders such as Gonzalez-Colon. Nutrition assistance The Trump administration has proposed $1.9 million for the… Read more »

Independence has never been a very popular option in Puerto Rico. It has not received as much as 6% in any status vote, and no independent candidate has ever won as governor. Independence has gotten the following percentages of votes in the plebiscites that have taken place so far: July 23, 1967: 0.6% November 14,… Read more »

Manny Franco was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, in 1994. Now 25, he has been a professional jockey since 2013. He won the 2020 Belmont Stakes with Tiz the Law on June 20 in his Belmont racing debut. Franco was introduced to horse racing by his father, who took him to the racetrack as a… Read more »

The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources held a hearing on June 30th exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. territories, including Puerto Rico.  Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico and the Island’s only representative in Congress, testified before the Committee. Gonzalez-Colon began with a reminder of the economic costs… Read more »

The House of Representatives voted on Friday to admit the District of Columbia as a state. The state, including 66 of the current 68 square miles of the District, would be named Washington, Douglass Commonwealth in honor of Frederick Douglass. The remaining two square miles would be the new federal District. It would include the… Read more »

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court upheld the legality of the PROMESA Fiscal Oversight and Management Board in a ruling in which the Court concluded that the members of the Board are not “officers of the United States.” “Officers of the United States” are, according to the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, to be… Read more »

Update: The House approved statehood for Washington, D.C., on June 26, 2020. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on statehood for Washington, D.C., on Friday. The vote will consider a bill introduced by delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) in January, 2019. The bill was considered by the Committee on Oversight and Reform. Rep. Carolyn B…. Read more »

Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez Garced signed the Electoral Code last week after extensive discussions with various stakeholders. According to NotiCel, a Puerto Rico news source, Vazquez signed the new law while recognizing the difficulty of coming to an agreement among all parties on the complex measure.  “My responsibility as governor,” she noted, “is to… Read more »

Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez gave a State of the Commonwealth address that included a proposed budget for fiscal year 2021. The spending plan calls for $169 million more than the budget proposed by the PROMESA Fiscal Oversight and Management Board (FOMB). The government’s $10.2 billion budget combined with federal funds and special revenue funds… Read more »

On June 14, Governor Wanda Vázquez signed into law the Supplementary Act to Address the Effects on the Puerto Rican Economy caused by the COVID-19 Emergency, creating new tax and economic stimulus measures to enhance the Puerto Rico economy by strengthening small and mid-size businesses. The new law’s provisions will remain in effect as long… Read more »