With more than 95% of votes counted, Puerto Rico voters have chosen statehood in yesterday’s plebiscite vote. The ballot question was, “Should Puerto Rico be immediately admitted into the Union as a state?” Voters had two straightforward options in response: “Yes” and “No.” 592,242 voters (52.19%) chose “Yes.” “No” votes totaled 542,634 (47.81% of the… Read more »
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) includes a onetime cash payment of up to $1,200 directly to each eligible adult and $500 per child. Although Puerto Ricans are among those eligible for this payment, their payments were delayed as the U.S. Treasury Department had to take the extra step of approving… Read more »
On Tuesday, Thomas Rivera Schatz, the President of the Puerto Rico Senate, sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) asking them to extend the Child Tax Credit to Puerto Rico on an… Read more »
Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon has introduced a new Puerto Rico Statehood Admission Act. The bill (H.R. 4901) calls for a federally-sponsored plebiscite asking voters simply whether Puerto Rico should become a State. This up-or-down inquiry is the same question Hawaii and Alaska used when they became States of the Union. Under the bill… Read more »
As an unincorporated territory of the United States, Puerto Rico has some of the rights and responsibilities that the 50 States have. For example, working people in Puerto Rico pay Social Security and payroll taxes just as residents of States do, but they do not get equal benefits. One of the differences between Puerto Rico… Read more »
In a press conference this week, Resident Commissioner Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon rejected the idea that she will leave her current post to become Governor of Puerto Rico. She said that there is no constitutional crisis and “Puerto Rico is back to normal.” Gonzalez-Colon asked Governor Wanda Vazquez to join her in visiting the White House to… Read more »
“Almost a year and a half since the hurricane,” said MSNBC news anchor Chris Hayes in a recent report, “there has been no sustained formal U.S. government inquiry into what happened to lead to the deaths of as many Americans as died in 9/11.” There have been calls for such an inquiry, but it has… Read more »
Many Americans are surprised to learn that nearly half of all U.S. households don’t pay federal income taxes, and many of these households receive tax refunds from the IRS. To followers of federal policy towards Puerto Rico, this statistic carries a certain irony because Puerto Ricans do not pay federal income taxes from Puerto Rico sourced… Read more »
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is the incoming chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, the committee which oversees Puerto Rico for Congress. In an interview last week with El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico’s largest news source, he outlined his plan for Puerto Rico: He wants to change the relationship between the PROMESA Fiscal Oversight and Management… Read more »
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