The Obama administration is expected to announce at 4:00 pm today the seven appointees to the PROMESA fiscal oversight board, according to Bloomberg news and other sources.
The Republican appointees are expected to be: Andrew Biggs, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and former principal deputy commissioner of the Social Security Administration; José Carrión, Partner at San Juan insurance brokerage Carrión, Laffitte & Casellas, Inc. and former chairman of the boards of the Puerto Rico government’s State Insurance Fund and Automobile Accident Compensation Administration; Carlos García: CEO, founder and managing partner of BayBoston and previous head of Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank; and David Skeel, the S. Samuel Arsht Professor of Corporate Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
The Democratic appointees are likely to be: Arthur González, senior fellow at New York University’s School of Law and former bankruptcy judge in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York; José Ramón González: Ramón González, former president of the GDB and current president and CEO of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York; and Ana Matosantos, financial and budget consultant with the Public Policy Institute of California and former director of the California Department of Finance from 2009 until September 2013, serving under both Governor Jerry Brown (D) and Arnold Schwartzenegger (R).
“I am pleased that President Obama, in consultation with Congress, has appointed the members of the Oversight Board in a thoughtful and timely manner, and I thank the seven appointees for their willingness to serve,” said Puerto Rico’s Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi.“PROMESA is among the most important pieces of legislation that Congress has ever enacted on the subject of Puerto Rico,” he continued. “If the Oversight Board, its professional staff, Puerto Rico’s elected leaders, the island’s creditors, and our private sector professionals work together in a spirit of cooperation, I believe that—acting within PROMESA’s framework—we can begin to turn our beloved island around, to improve quality of life for our people, and to stem the tide of migration to the states. Success will require hard work and sacrifice. But nothing truly worth doing in life is ever easy.”
Jack Lew, Secretary of the Treasurey, has explained, “the government of Puerto Rico, which retains primary responsibility for its budget and fiscal planning, must develop a multi-year fiscal plan for Puerto Rico that meets the statutory obligations under PROMESA. Time is of the essence. The Puerto Rico government should bring together all of its resources to develop and submit a plan to the Oversight Board as soon as possible.”
“We stand ready to provide any additional requested technical assistance to Puerto Rico and the Board,” added Lew. “While the road ahead will be challenging, I am confident that Puerto Rico can and will emerge from the current crisis and return to growth.”
The next step is for the Oversight Board to appoint an executive director and professional staff.
