Federal Disaster Funding Update for Puerto Rico

Recently, there has been a heated debate about whether Puerto Rico has been treated fairly by the federal government in the allocation of funds for disaster assistance in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The answer to this question is complicated because it depends in large measure in understanding (1) how the federal appropriations process works and (2) how the different kinds of assistance programs function.

Shortchanging the Territories in Medicaid Funding

An expansionist outlook of American leaders in the late 1800s led the United States to acquire possessions outside of the contiguous land that we still refer to as “the mainland.” However, other than designing military strategies that would provide the U.S. a geopolitical advantage, little thought was given to how these territories would be governed.

Puerto Rico’s Unfinished Business After Hurricane María

It has been a little over a year since Hurricane María fractured Puerto Rico’s infrastructure and its demographic and economic landscape. Currently, all the critical infrastructure—electricity, water, telecommunications, schools, and hospitals—is functional.

Transforming the Recovery into Locally-led Growth: Federal Contracting in the Post-Disaster Period

In the wake of the devastation resulting from hurricane María, the United States Federal Government mobilized numerous emergency relief efforts in Puerto Rico. Traditionally, Federal disaster response has been thought of as the “silver lining” that stems from a catastrophic event, given the millions of US Government dollars that are pumped into the local economy.

De resilencia a resistencia

Los desastres naturales mayormente destruyen, pero también generan nuevos vocabularios que incluyen un revoltijo de acrónimos, y toda clase de conceptos técnicos que los sobrevivientes tenemos que aprender y asimilar rápidamente, como el término “resiliencia”.

El informe del GAO

Recientemente la Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) publicó un informe sobre la deuda de Puerto Rico. Los hallazgos principales del informe no deben sorprender a nadie.

El costo social del plan fiscal

Seis miembros de la Junta de Control Fiscal (“JCF”), aprobaron el Plan Fiscal para el gobierno de Puerto Rico el pasado 19 de abril. En términos conceptuales, el Plan consiste en la implementación de (1) un programa de reformas estructurales; (2) un programa de consolidación fiscal; y(3) un programa de reconstrucción financiado por el gobierno federal.

Plan fiscal 3.0

El pasado 12 de febrero el gobierno de Ricardo Rosselló presentó la tercera iteración de su Plan Fiscal para Puerto Rico. En términos generales, esta versión del Plan tiene tres componentes principales: (1) Una revisión del escenario económico base tomando en consideración la asignación de fondos federales para la reconstrucción de la infraestructura destruida por el huracán María