Cady Stanton of the Washington Monthly has pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic is putting a spotlight on some problems in the United States. “The coronavirus pandemic has revealed many flaws in America,” she wrote. “It has also reinforced the need to address certain geographic inequities. Case in point: D.C. and Puerto Rico are less equipped… Read more »
On Friday, President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, providing the government with broad authority to direct companies to meet national defense needs. He then ordered Michigan-based General Motors to begin production of life-saving ventilators. Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez Colon (R-PR) similarly sees a possibility to use the Defense Production Act to help Puerto… Read more »
Puerto Rico cannot vote in presidential elections, but does have a voice in presidential primaries. In this election year, Puerto Rico had moved its Democratic primary race to March, instead of its traditional date in June, in hopes of highlighting the influence Puerto Rican voters have — in spite of the lack of that presidential… Read more »
Puerto Rico already had some of the tightest restrictions on people’s movements, and last night Governor Wanda Velazquez Garced issued new rules that make Puerto Rico among the toughest jurisdictions in the U.S. to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Previous rulings had all but essential workers required to stay home from 9:00 p.m.to 5:00… Read more »
Congress has been discussing Puerto Rico during the recent negotiations on Congressional responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conversations have not been about the Island’s political status, even though the government of Puerto Rico indicated that statehood is a part of its economic strategy in its most recent budget. The Puerto Rico legislature has also passed… Read more »
Governments, businesses, and residents of the five U.S. territories are poised to obtain billions of dollars in assistance through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Most of the assistance for the territories – Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, America Samoa and Northern Mariana Islands – will be provided by treating them… Read more »
Puerto Rico was one of the first jurisdictions in the United States to pass strict curfew and quarantine rules, and it has now become one of the first to announce a strong stimulus package in response to the pandemic. As of this writing, Puerto Rico has had 64 cases of the coronavirus and two deaths…. Read more »
The COVID-19 response bill that U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released this afternoon as an alternative to the bill put forward by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as the third major piece of response legislation proposes up to approximately $1.4 billion a year in additional assistance for Puerto Ricans. The territory… Read more »
As the federal government discusses economic relief for individuals and companies affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, Puerto Rico is seeing new support for an old idea: a manufacturing tax credit. Forbes, in an article focusing on fears of medical shortages during the ongoing pandemic, reminds readers of Section 936, a special tax break that… Read more »
With all of the criticism of President Trump’s personal responses to Puerto Rico’s major natural disasters and the territory’s government and his administration’s slow release of the tens of billions of dollars in aid, an obvious question is whether there is a similar issue regarding the Federal response to the COVID-19 health and economic catastrophe…. Read more »
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