From Caribbean Business

Natural Resources Committee seeks to ensure austerity measures ‘are not worsening the humanitarian crisis’ in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN – The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources has scheduled a hearing for May 2 on the status of Puerto Rico under the federal law enacted to stabilize the island’s finances.

The hearing is titled “The Status of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA): Lessons Learned Three Years Later.”

“We must ensure that we are not worsening the humanitarian crisis on the island through austerity,” the committee tweeted. “If Congress truly wants to help the Puerto Rican people in the effort to recover from Hurricanes Irma and Maria, we must understand the impact of fiscal austerity and Promesa on working families.”

The hearing will take place while the Financial Oversight and Management Board, which Promesa established, is appealing a ruling that declared it unconstitutional because its members were not confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Since its creation in 2016, Promesa, through its executive entity, has been used as a basis to reduce government spending, often affecting essential services the government provides to residents.

Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Arizona), along with several lawmakers, recently held an open meeting in Puerto Rico, where they visited several municipalities and met with local officials and representatives of nonprofit organizations, to hear firsthand the issues that affect Puerto Ricans.

During that visit, Grijalva opened the door to potential amendments to the statute, created to oversee the fiscal policies of the elected government of Puerto Rico, that would allow for a “less oppressive” law.

The hearing will take place at 10:00 A.M. in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building in Washington, D.C.

For more on this story go to; https://caribbeanbusiness.com/u-s-house-to-hold-a-public-hearing-on-promesa-may-2/