PUERTO RICO NEWS
December 21, 2022
The Hill
Healthcare justice for Puerto Rico
BY SERGIO M. MARXUACH AND AYAN GORAN
It has become a bit of an end of year tradition: Congress is scrambling again to enact legislation to keep the federal government open. Unfortunately for the U.S. citizens of Puerto Rico, Congress is also scrambling to provide additional funding for the island’s Medicaid program and avoid a so-called “Medicaid cliff.”
December 20, 2022
NBC News
Congress reaches deal to keep Puerto Rico's Medicaid program funded
The bill to ensure the program is funded for the next five years must be approved this week. Otherwise, more than a million Puerto Ricans stand to lose their benefits.
Members of Congress reached a deal Tuesday to fund Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program in a way that prevents it from running out of federal money by the end of the year and ensures stable funding for the next five years. Ensuring consistent funding is crucial for the U.S. territory because of the way the money is allocated.
December 20, 2022
Politico
Puerto Rico grid funding in omnibus falls short of Biden, legislator requests
The president had sought $3 billion to support rooftop solar and storage installations on the island.
By GLORIA GONZALEZ
Puerto Rico would receive $1 billion under the spending package released Tuesday to help restore the island’s electric grid after yet another devastating hurricane earlier this year — far less than the $3 billion sought by President Joe Biden and the $5 billion in emergency spending requested by legislators to fund rooftop solar and storage installations on the island.
December 20, 2022
The New York Post
Lawmakers Advance Sprawling Spending Bill in Race to Avoid Shutdown
The legislation, which would fund the government through September, would significantly increase federal spending and provide billions of dollars in emergency aid.
The omnibus bill allows states to begin removing people from Medicaid on April 1, regardless of when the emergency declaration is lifted. It strengthens Medicaid benefits for some recipients, providing five years of funding for Medicaid in Puerto Rico and permanent funding for coverage in other U.S. territories. The bill also offers other protections for Medicaid recipients, ensuring that children in the program and the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program receive a year of continuous coverage after enrollment.
December 19, 2022
The Washington Post
Congress clinches deal to fund Medicaid programs in Puerto Rico, other territories
Congress has clinched a deal to avert a lapse in critical dollars for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program for five years and permanently beef up federal dollars for the other U.S. territories, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.
December 8, 2022
El Nuevo Día
The great impact of credit for dependent children in Puerto Rico is highlighted in Congress
The Youth Development Institute presented a study that points to a 21% reduction in child poverty
By Jose Delgado
Only with the full implementation of the expanded federal credit for dependent children (CTC), child poverty in Puerto Rico may have been reduced from 55% to 39%, according to a new study by the Youth Development Institute (IDJ).
November 28, 2022
PR Newswire
Milberg Representing Puerto Rico Municipalities Against Big Oil and Coal for $100B+ in Climate Change Losses
The groundbreaking claim accuses Exxon Mobil and other companies of purposefully concealing their products' climate change dangers, leaving Puerto Rico at the mercy of a catastrophic 2017 hurricane season
By Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Nov. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- More than a dozen municipalities of Puerto Rico have filed a class action lawsuit against fossil fuel companies for their alleged role in the deadly 2017 hurricane season that devastated the Commonwealth, causing billions in damages and leaving thousands dead.
November 27, 2022
The Wall Street Journal
Puerto Rico’s Power Failures Worsen After Private Takeover
Blackouts have gotten longer and prices keep rising. Defenders say the company inherited a disaster after years of mismanagement and neglect.
By Katherine Blunt and Andrew Scurria
A Canadian-American consortium swept into Puerto Rico last year with promises to transform the island’s antiquated power grid.
November 22, 2022
Utility Dive
House lawmakers, advocates want $5B to help Puerto Rico install rooftop solar, storage systems
Dozens of consumer advocacy groups, businesses and churches on Monday called on the Senate to take up Grijalva’s $5 billion proposal.
November 21, 2022
Solar Power World
Puerto Rico groups ask Congress to fund solar + storage for vulnerable communities
Over 40 organizations, business and churches have asked Congress to approve $5 billion in needed spending to strengthen Puerto Rico’s energy grid. They have sent a letter that asks for funding to update Puerto Rico’s outdated energy system.
November 19, 2022
The Guardian
Why new construction projects are making Puerto Rico’s climate disasters worse
Experts say the approval of new infrastructure in geologically vulnerable areas is endangering the lives of residents
By Israel Meléndez Ayala
Jomary Ortega lives in Ciales, a town located in Puerto Rico’s central mountain range. To get to work and take her daughter to school, she takes PR-146, a highway built on land susceptible to landslides, resulting in a treacherous commute for locals.
November 17, 2022
The New Humanitarian
In storm-hit Puerto Rico, local communities fill US disaster response gaps
‘If you expect aid from the government, you have to be ready to wait days, weeks, months without getting anything.’
Like its Caribbean neighbours, Puerto Rico is situated in the pathway of an alphabetical carousel of annual hurricanes that leaves it increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
November 14, 2022
El Nuevo Día
The change from PAN to PANS in Puerto Rico
The Institute of Economic Freedom for Puerto Rico recently published a report that analyzes how the possible change from the current Nutrition Assistance Program (PAN) to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (PANS) could create favorable conditions to increase the participation rate labor and economic freedom of the people of Puerto Rico.
November 14, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Congress resumes its sessions with key issues for Puerto Rico still on the table
Medicaid, disaster assistance, the status issue, and various appointments are pending issues in the US House of Representatives and/or Senate.
By Jose A. Delgado
Washington DC . - Congress resumed its sessions today, after a month and a half recess, at a time when it is pending to determine whether it seeks to resolve the financing of the Medicaid program in Puerto Rico and the response to the devastation caused by the hurricane before the end of 2022. Fiona on the island.
November 13, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Exodus of Puerto Rican doctors: causes and solutions
I am the product of a home of tireless workers who did everything in their power to get me a top-notch education, without them having proper financial means. I studied with sports scholarships. I am from Mayagüez. I did my baccalaureate at the Mayagüez University Campus and I attended medical school at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, in Mexico.
November 13, 2022
The New York Times
In Remote Parts of Puerto Rico, Hurricane Fiona Made Life Even Harder
The storm’s effects remain most evident in areas of the island that have suffered disproportionately from natural disasters and government neglect.
By Laura N. Pérez Sánchez
UTUADO, P.R. — Maritza Collazo Torres moved to the mountains of central Puerto Rico in 2020, fleeing a string of earthquakes that were rattling other parts of the island.
November 8, 2022
Daily News
Puerto Rico, like New York, needs public power
By Alexa Avilés and Tiffany Cabán
On a typical day in the U.S. colony of Puerto Rico, thousands to hundreds of thousands of people live without electricity.
November 8, 2022
The New York Times Magazine
Can an Island Feed Itself?
After years of destructive weather that have disrupted Puerto Rico’s food supplies, new visions of local agriculture are taking root.
By Moises Velasquez-Manoff
When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in September 2017, Alfredo Aponte Zayas took shelter in his grandmother’s house, which had been built to withstand strong storms. He spent two days inside consoling his eldest daughter as they watched water pouring in through the electrical sockets. When he finally ventured out, once the hurricane passed, he found a ruined landscape. What trees remained standing had been stripped to their trunks. Hundreds of cows lay dead in the fields; half-collapsed houses were everywhere.
The Washington Post
November 7, 2022
Latino Rebels
EPA to Test Air, Groundwater in Puerto Rico for First Time
By Latin America News Dispatch
PUERTO RICO: For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will test air and groundwater in underserved and polluted communities in Puerto Rico’s southern region. The announcement, made on Friday, is part of the Biden administration’s effort to directly address the disproportionate impacts of pollution that have existed for decades in many low-income communities and communities of color.
November 5, 2022
El Nuevo Día
The Secretary of Energy of the United States supports allocating $5,000 million for solar panels on the roofs of Puerto Rico
"We don't want to spend money on fossil resources," said Jennifer Granholm, in an interview with El Nuevo Día after her trip to the island
By Jose A. Delgado
Washington DC – US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm has embraced the idea of now allocating $5 billion in disaster relief funds to Puerto Rico to install solar panels and battery storage on the roofs of low-income residences. resources and disabled.
November 4, 2022
The Architect’s Newspaper
After Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Rico must lead with infrastructural innovation
Designing an Island’s Future
On September 18, Hurricane Fiona, a category 1 storm, struck the southern part of the island of Puerto Rico. All residents of our Caribbean commonwealth were without power, 75 percent without running water, and many suffered from historic flooding. The storm is estimated to have caused over $2 billion in damage and the deaths of at least 21 people.
November 4, 2022
The Hill
Puerto Rico: A massive energy transformation is within reach
By Ruth Santiago
On her second visit to Puerto Rico, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is visiting homes and fire stations equipped with rooftop solar and storage and making positive statements about the need for widespread adoption of distributed renewable energy to provide life-saving resiliency to Puerto Rico residents.
November 4, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
The EPA will carry out studies on water and air pollution in communities near the AES coal plant
By Jose A. Delgado
Washington DC – For the first time, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will study the presence of contaminants in drinking water and air in the southern communities of Puerto Rico near the AES Puerto Rico coal plant in Guayama .
November 4, 2022
USA Today
Puerto Rico's Hurricane Fiona recovery efforts may be repeating same failures from Hurricane Maria, advocates say
By Christine Fernando
Weeks after Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico, floodwaters have mostly receded in the hard-hit town of Loíza, but mud, debris and collapsed roofs remain. Power has been restored in some areas but is still unstable.
November 3, 2022
Non Profit Quarterly
Puerto Rico: The Critical Role of Information and the Nonprofit Sector in Disaster Living
By Cyndi Suarez
I recently spoke with Carla Minet, a journalist and executive director of the Center for Investigative Journalism in Puerto Rico, about what life is like on the island now and the key role of information in disaster response.
November 3, 2022
EarthJustice
EarthJustice Statement on Puerto Rico’s Failing Non-Renewable Energies in the Wake of Secretary of Energy’s Visit to the Archipelago
Billions of unspent federal FEMA funds have been allocated for recovery and climate resiliency that could be devoted to rooftop systems
By Robert Valencia
WASHINGTON, D.C. AND SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — On her second visit to Puerto Rico this week, Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm made positive remarks about the importance of widespread distributed renewable energy that ensures life-saving resiliency to Puerto Rico residents. While her visit to the archipelago raises the hopes of millions of residents there, both the federal government and Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau have done little to guarantee a transition from a fossil fuel-dependent electrical grid towards a publicly funded, weather-resilient, zero-emission system using distributed rooftop solar and storage. Billions of unspent federal FEMA funds have been allocated for recovery and climate resiliency that could be devoted to rooftop systems.
November 3, 2022
Center of American Progress
Without Congressional Action, Puerto Rico Faces Severe Medicaid Funding Cuts
Already long underfunded, Puerto Rico will lose critical federal funding in December.
By Nicole Rapfogel
Despite being home to more than 3 million American citizens, Puerto Rico has always received a lower rate of federal funding for Medicaid than it would if it were a state. For decades, the federal government has failed to provide Puerto Rico adequate Medicaid funding, leaving the territory unable to cover many low-income residents, deliver comprehensive benefits, and plan for future emergencies, all while exacerbating a mounting physician shortage. In recent years, Congress has authorized temporary increases in Medicaid funding to address funding and systemic deficiencies and, in some cases, respond to disasters and emergencies—but these bumps are often insufficient and inconsistent, making it difficult for the territory to build sustainable health care system capacity. As of 2021, nearly half of Puerto Rico residents received health coverage through Medicaid.
November 2, 2022
The Bond Buyer
Puerto Rico board says it has a consenting PREPA impaired class
By Robert Salvin
The Puerto Rico Oversight Board said it has lined up an impaired class to support a potential Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority restructuring deal, as legally required, but some were skeptical.
October 26, 2022
WBUR
What's Standing in the way of Puerto Rico's Recovery
Puerto Rico is trying to recover from Hurricane Fiona, which struck last month. This, as it's still trying to recover from Hurricane Maria, which devastated the island more than 5 years ago. "In Puerto Rico, FEMA has obligated over $21 billion for public assistance projects. However, only 407 million — that's 2% — has actually been spent." If so little rebuilding is actually taking place, are the reconstruction efforts really working? "At some point we have to sit back and look at these cascading disasters and ask ourselves, do we need to devise another action plan for yet another disaster, or do we need to really rethink the reconstruction process from the ground up."
October 24, 2022
Cornell News
Students Propose Solar Solution to Puerto Rico’s Electricity Woes
By Jim Hanchett
Students in a hands-on infrastructure class in the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy are urging government officials in Puerto Rico and Washington D.C. to promote rooftop solar power, and have developed a policy proposal that promotes the deployment of solar power in the most vulnerable communities.
October 21, 2022
Huff Post
As Puerto Rico’s Privatized Power Grid Collapses, Its Owner Eyes A Bigger Payday
Pressure is mounting for the U.S. territory’s leaders to cancel its contract with LUMA Energy.
By Alexander C. Kaufman
Andrés Gutiérrez Toro considered himself lucky. After Hurricane María destroyed Puerto Rico’s electrical system ― triggering a historic 11-month blackout across much of the island ― and left thousands dead, he lost power for only five months. Still, the situation was so brutal that he ponied up to buy a diesel generator and solar panels.
October 21, 2022
Them
How El Departamento de la Comida Fights Colonialism Through Food
From sustainable farming to preserving Indigenous knowledge, El Depa is addressing the impact of colonialism through food.
By Leah Kirts
Down the hill from their homestead, El Departamento de la Comida, a collective food hub that Rodríguez Besosa co-founded, is building a support system for local farming beyond hurricane season. A walk-in cooler that runs on an air conditioner will soon ensure freshly-harvested produce grown by local farmers doesn't rot. Eventually El Depa’s cooler will function off the grid, powered by solar panels.
October 21, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
Biden extends 100% federal cost share for Fiona emergency for another 30 days
Governor Pedro Pierluisi welcomed the initiative even though he had requested the extension for 180 days
By Jose A. Delgado
President Joe Biden extended from 30 to 60 days the decision that made additional disaster assistance available to the Government of Puerto Rico following Hurricane Fiona. When President Biden was in Puerto Rico, Governor Pedro Pierluisi requested to extend the total federal funding for emergency efforts for 180 days.
October 20, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Jennifer Granholm warns that there are faults in Puerto Rico's electrical system that "threaten its reliability"
The Secretary of Energy of the United States begins its meetings on the island this afternoon
By Jose Delgado
On her way to Puerto Rico, the Secretary of Energy of the United States, Jennifer Granholm , affirmed today, Thursday, that five years after Hurricane María and despite the allocation of billions of dollars to redo it, “there are still flaws fundamental and critical issues in the island's energy system that threaten its reliability."
October 18, 2022
By ABC News
Puerto Rico struggles to recover after hurricane razed crops
Puerto Rico's agriculture minister says Hurricane Fiona destroyed $159 million worth of crops in Puerto Rico when it hit a month ago, decimating fields of plantains, bananas and other crops
By Dánica Coto
YABUCOA, Puerto Rico -- Hurricane Fiona destroyed $159 million worth of crops in Puerto Rico when it hit a month ago, decimating fields of plantains, bananas and other crops, the island’s agriculture minister said Tuesday.
October 17, 2022
News is my Business
Study: Puerto Rico consumers spend 25% more a month to eat out
By Michelle Kantrow-Vázquez
Puerto Rico consumers are spending 25% a month more this year, or $493, to eat at restaurants, versus the $381 they spent in 2018, according to the Puerto Rico Restaurants Association’s most recent EAT study.
October 14, 2022
STAT News
In Fiona-ravaged Puerto Rico, hospitals were prioritized over health clinics for diesel, exacerbating rural health disparities
By Ambar Castillo
When Hurricane Fiona knocked out power across the entire island of Puerto Rico, hospitals turned to diesel-fueled generators to keep the lights on and critical machines running.
October 14, 2022
Latino Rebels
Puerto Rico to Investigate Power Bill Complaints Following Recent Outage
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau announced Thursday that it will investigate how a private company has handled complaints about electric bills after Hurricane Fiona knocked power out to the entire island.
October 13, 2022
Axios
Black Puerto Ricans' post-hurricane struggle
By Keldy Ortiz
Black Puerto Rican communities have been among the hardest hit by hurricanes Fiona and Maria, but advocates say they often struggle most to get aid. The big picture: Gentrification and discriminatory housing policies have driven many Black Puerto Ricans from urban to rural coastal areas, which struggle with erosion, are prone to flooding and are hardest hit by hurricanes, experts say.
October 12, 2022
Mother Jones
Big Pharma Is Flooding Puerto Rico With Toxic Waste
Dead livestock, cancer, arsenic in your water—that’ll be $100 billion in tax breaks, please.
By Emily Hofstaedter
In Puerto Rico, cheap labor and generous tax breaks—since 2017, more than $100 billion worth—have made US-based pharmaceutical firms the biggest economic players in town. Drug manufacturers have brought in tens of thousands of jobs, albeit with a tax-break price tag of more than $1 million each. But a new report by the nonprofit Center for Popular Democracy and advocacy group Hedge Clippers suggests that Big Pharma’s footprint on the island has come with other serious costs: illegal dumping of toxic waste, pollution and depletion of groundwater, and violations of other vital Environmental Protection Agency regulations. The report, released Tuesday, paints a disturbing picture, holding US pharmaceutical corporations at least partially responsible for Puerto Rico’s disproportionately high rates of asthma and cancer. The sum of its findings: a pattern of environmental racism resulting in more than a dozen Big Pharma–related Superfund sites, with the complicity of federal and local authorities.
October 12, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Raúl Grijalva and 37 federal legislators claim to assign $5,000 million to install solar panels in Puerto Rico
The president of the Natural Resources Committee maintains that these systems should go to the roofs of residences of low-income and disabled people
By Jose A. Delgado
Washington DC – Along with 37 other federal legislators, the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, Raúl Grijalva , asked the leadership of the House of Representatives to allocate $5,000 million this year to purchase solar panels and batteries for residences of low-income people and disabled in Puerto Rico.
October 12, 2022
Bloomberg Law
Puerto Rico Board Faces Test With Supreme Court Records Case
By Alex Wolf
The US Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case over journalists’ demand for records from the federal board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances will heighten transparency issues that irk the island’s residents, a review that could impair its operations.
October 11, 2022
National Journal
Puerto Ricans look to solar to keep hospitals running
By Erin Durkin and Brian Dabbs
The island territory is prone to blackouts, particularly during hurricanes. Advocates say rooftop solar could help medical facilities operate during electricity crises.
October 11, 2022
National Journal
Puerto Ricans look to solar to keep hospitals running
The island territory is prone to blackouts, particularly during hurricanes. Advocates say rooftop solar could help medical facilities operate during electricity crises.
By Erin Durkin and Brian Dabbs
The aftermath of yet another hurricane crisis in Puerto Rico underscores the serious health care challenges posed by an outdated, unreliable electricity grid.
October 11, 2022
Climate Wire
Meet Puerto Rico’s unlikely climate champions: Credit unions
By Avery Ellfeldt
Two days after Hurricane Fiona plunged Puerto Rico into darkness, the lights came on at an unlikely waypoint in a rural mountain town. It was a credit union.
October 11, 2022
Politico Pro
Looming Medicaid cuts in Puerto Rico threaten half the island
Lobbyists are urging lawmakers to offer longer-term solutions, rather than just a short fix.
By Megan R. Wilson
More than 1 million low-income Puerto Ricans are at risk of having their health insurance upended in December when a boost in Medicaid funds expires — and lobbyists representing the island and health care interests are pushing Congress to provide a long-term fix in the year-end spending bill.
October 11, 2022
Yahoo! Finance
U.S. Supreme Court spurns McKinsey & Co appeal in bankruptcy conflicts case
By Nate Raymond
(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear McKinsey & Co's bid to escape a lawsuit by retired turnaround specialist Jay Alix accusing the management consulting firm of concealing potential conflicts when seeking permission from bankruptcy courts to perform lucrative work on corporate restructurings.
October 10, 2022
The Wall Street Journal
In Puerto Rico’s Troubled Energy System, McKinsey Gets Paid by Both Government and Vendors
McKinsey helped craft a privatization process for Puerto Rico’s electric grid, and a venture backed by one of the consulting firm’s clients later won the contract. McKinsey has said that it wasn’t involved in the selection process.
By Alexander Gladstone
McKinsey & Co., the consulting powerhouse that advises not just Puerto Rico’s government but also the primary contractors and vendors for the island territory’s energy system, is facing scrutiny in the wake of the power grid’s continued dysfunction.
October 8, 2022
The Guardian
‘We would go back’: will Hurricane Fiona worsen Puerto Rico’s population drain?
Hurricane Maria, earthquakes and federal neglect were already driving the US territory’s youth and talent to the mainland
By Coral Murphy Marcos
Bad Bunny blasted from the jukebox, filling the air at the Caribbean Social Club in Brooklyn, a bar Puerto Ricans have been coming to since the 1970s.
October 6, 2022
Center for Progress
Hurricane Fiona: 4 Ways the Federal Government Can Help Puerto Rico Rebuild Better
Hurricane Fiona devastated Puerto Rico, reversing much of the progress made since Hurricane Maria in 2017; yet equitable, sustainable rebuilding and recovery is possible with key federal investments.
Almost five years to the day after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico as a Category 4 storm—killing nearly 3,000 people and causing an estimated $90 billion in damage—Hurricane Fiona made landfall on the island, deluging it with destruction that is all too familiar to the more than 3 million American citizens who call Puerto Rico home. Rebuilding efforts since Hurricane Maria have been slow, inadequate, and incomplete, leaving the island ill-equipped to weather another major disaster. The crisis is more acute, however, as Puerto Rico has long struggled with economic challenges: Following years of recession, the island is in a debt crisis and has filed for bankruptcy relief. Indeed, more than 40 percent of the territory’s overall population lives in poverty, unemployment stands at 5.8 percent, and the median household income was $21,058 from 2016 to 2020.
October 5, 2022
NPR
What independence for Puerto Rico could look like following natural disasters
By Miguel Macias and Justine Kenin
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with author Jaquira Díaz, about the idea of independence for Puerto Rico in light of the recent challenges the island has faced after a string of natural disasters.
October 5, 2022
Politico
Biden shows Puerto Rico he cares. It may not be enough.
The territory's residents want reliable electricity, a functioning healthcare system and long-promised recovery aid from their 2017 hurricane disaster.
By Gloria Gonzales
People in Puerto Rico expressed gratitude that President Joe Biden came to their hurricane-struck island — but they’re skeptical that much will change in their struggles to rebuild their lives. Frankie Miranda, president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation, which co-hosted Biden’s conversation with community leaders, said people had “enormous expectations” for the president’s visit.
October 4, 2022
Insider
Trump called Puerto Rico a place with 'absolutely no hope' while bungling Hurricane Maria aid efforts, book says
By Warren Rojas and Kayla Gallagher
After Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, President Donald Trump was slow to support adequate disaster aid and suggested the island wasn't part of the United States.
October 4, 2022
Open Contracting Partnerships
5 years after Hurricane Maria, no lessons: when corruption trumps reconstruction in Puerto Rico
By Issel Masses
It did not come as a surprise that Hurricane Fiona wreaked havoc in Puerto Rico. Despite being a category 1 hurricane compared to Hurricane Maria’s category 4 strong winds five years ago, I wrote this with whatever little generator power I had left. That’s because once again, Puerto Rico was out of power, many out of water, and our infrastructure was collapsing due to extensive flooding. But what breaks my heart is that much of this could have been avoided.
October 4, 2022
Primera Hora
Non-profit organizations presented Biden with the other face of Puerto Rico
Hispanic Federation took on the task of organizing this meeting in coordination with the White House.
By First Hour
The Hispanic Federation (HF) organization was in charge of convening a group of leaders from five non-profit organizations to present yesterday in Ponce to the President of the United States, Joe Biden, the pressing problems that the country is experiencing after the passage of Hurricane Fiona and aggravated by the slow recovery from Hurricane Maria.
October 3, 2022
USA Today
'A terrible cycle': Hurricane Fiona, natural disasters expose mental health crisis in Puerto Rico
By Adrianna Rodriguez
In the days after Hurricane Fiona, Dr. Brenda Rivera-García sat at home without electricity, water and Wi-Fi in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
October 3, 2022
Politico
Biden’s trip to Puerto Rico rekindles memories of Trump’s
By Myah Ward and Christopher Cadelago
Five years to the day after his predecessor came to the island and produced some indelible drama and images, Biden made his own survey of a hurricane’s damage.
PONCE, Puerto Rico — Hours after having touched down in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico, President Joe Biden arrived at a steamy school gymnasium adorned with makeshift tables and red and blue tablecloths upon which supplies of food had been set.
October 2, 2022
NPR
More than 100,000 clients in Puerto Rico are still without power 2 weeks after Fiona
By Becky Sullivan
More than 100,000 customers in Puerto Rico are still waiting for power to be restored two weeks after Hurricane Fiona dumped historic amounts of rain and knocked out power across the island.
September 30, 2022
Bloomberg Government
Why Puerto Rico Has Struggled to Stabilize Its Electricity Grid
By Kellie Lunney
Hurricane Fiona battered Puerto Rico earlier this month, knocking out power to nearly half of the island’s 3.3 million residents. Full power hasn’t been restored as of Thursday.
September 29, 2022
NPR
U.S. waives federal law to boost diesel supply for Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. government announced Wednesday it would temporarily waive a federal law and allow foreign diesel deliveries to Puerto Rico as it faces a dwindling supply of fuel nearly two weeks after Hurricane Fiona pummeled the U.S. territory.
September 29, 2022
Washington Examiner
White House says Biden wasn't to blame for Puerto Rico shipping waiver delay
By Katherine Doyle, White House Reporter
The White House pushed back on suggestions that it was slow-walking a decision to lift a union-backed century-old shipping rule to speed fuel transport to Puerto Rico in the hours before "a temporary and targeted" waiver was ultimately granted.
September 29, 2022
Politico
As Ian batters Florida, Puerto Ricans fear being forgotten
By Gloria Gonzalez
Residents of the island territory still suffer power and water outages from this month's Hurricane Fiona, along with damage lingering from Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Puerto Ricans still trying to recover from Hurricane Fiona have a plea for the Biden administration: Don’t forget about us.
September 27, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Federal Budget Resolution Would Authorize $2 Billion CDBG-DR Program for Disasters in 2021 and 2022
By Jose A Delgado
Puerto Rico and other jurisdictions can benefit from those funds, but the measure leaves out a direct emergency allocation for the island.
Washington DC - Congress seeks to begin to ensure the financing of programs to address recent disasters - funds that Puerto Rico will benefit from after Hurricane Fiona - but leaves the debate on significant direct allocations for the Island for later.
September 27, 2022
The Hill
For Puerto Rico, the right hurricane recovery is renewable energy
By Eduardo Chatia and Michael Liebman
In Puerto Rico, energy is headline news every day — hurricane or not.
Many days, it’s Gov. Pedro Pierluisi in the press talking about the challenges of the island’s energy system. Others, it’s rapper Bad Bunny, Puerto Rico’s multi-platinum reggaeton artist, speaking passionately about the power system, including at recent San Juan concerts and in a recent music video for his song, “El Apagón” (“The Blackout”), that released right before Hurricane Fiona made landfall. Unfortunately, this press is warranted.
September 27, 2022
El Nuevo Día
The leaders of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the federal lower house call LUMA Energy to account
By Jose A. Delgado
They asked the company to explain the preparations prior to Hurricane Fiona, the increases in rates and when 100% of Puerto Ricans on the island will recover their electricity
Washington DC - The leaders of the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce of the United States House of Representatives today demanded that LUMA Energy specify the preparations it carried out before Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico and when 100% of the Puerto Ricans on the Island will be able to count on electricity service.
September 27, 2022
Marianas Variety
Puerto Rico and the US territories: The need to resolve their constitutional and political issues
By Jose S. Dela Cruz
I HAVE just finished reading 1st Circuit Judge Gustavo Gelpi’s book: “The Constitutional Evolution of Puerto Rico and Other U.S. Territories (1898-Present).” For anyone interested in learning about the constitutional development and political history of Puerto Rico and the other territories of the United States, Judge Gelpi’s book is an excellent primer on the subject.
September 26, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Members of Congress demand billions of dollars to mitigate the emergency caused by Fiona in Puerto Rico
By Jose Delgado
Federal legislators ask to include allocations in the FEMA fund and $1,000 million for the PAN, while the governor demands better access to Medicaid and reconcile the Hurricane Maria programs
Washington DC – Members of both houses of Congress today, Monday, urged legislative leadership to begin ordering an allocation of billions of dollars to help Puerto Rico mitigate the catastrophic damage caused by Hurricane Fiona.
September 26, 2022
Politico
Pressure grows on Biden to waive Jones Act for Puerto Rico following Hurricane Fiona
By Gloria Gonzalez
Legislators and activists are urging the Biden administration to waive a decades-old law and allow non-U.S. flagged ships to carry diesel to Puerto Rico to address a shortage following Hurricane Fiona, with energy company BP confirming it submitted a waiver request last week.
September 25, 2022
MSNBC
Puerto Rico's recovery is made harder by this unequal tax rule
By Natasha Noman
A different set of rules for non-Puerto Ricans on the island have helped widen the inequality gap and weaken public infrastructure.
Puerto Ricans are still struggling to recover after the island was pummeled by Hurricane Fiona last week, leaving roughly 1.5 million people without power across the island. The harsh reality of modern-day colonialism makes rebuilding after yet another natural disaster even more challenging here, and has led to things like the problematic privatization of the electric grid by U.S. and Canadian companies.
September 24, 2022
CNN
Misery, yet again, for Puerto Ricans still recovering from Maria
By Ray Sanchez
Guayama, Puerto Rico (CNN) — At the end of Valencia Street in this southeastern coastal town, Carmen Baez was proud that neighbors were using her washing machine valves to collect fresh water.
September 24, 2022
NPR
Fiona destroyed most of Puerto Rico's plantain crops — a staple for people's diet
By Juliana Kim
Ramón González Beiró, the secretary of the Puerto Rico's department of agriculture, announced that the vast majority of fields were lost due to the storm's heavy downpour and will take months to be restored, several Puerto Rican news outlets reported. Banana, papaya and coffee fields were also battered by the storm. He estimated the island's agricultural industry will lose about $100 million.
September 23, 2022
NPR
5 numbers that show Hurricane Fiona's devastating impact on Puerto Rico
By Jaclyn Díaz
In the wake of Hurricane Fiona walloping Puerto Rico, communities are underwater, bridges and roads destroyed, and many residents' homes are unlivable. Early figures indicate a tough road ahead as residents attempt to recover.
September 23, 2022
NPR
Isolated communities in Puerto Rico struggle to regain water and power after Fiona
By Greg Allen
OROCOVIS, Puerto Rico — Hundreds of thousands of people across Puerto Rico are still waiting for water and power to be restored following Hurricane Fiona. Fiona was just a category 1 hurricane when it hit. But it moved slowly and dropped more than 30 inches of rain on some areas, and the flooding washed out roads, isolating some mountain communities.
September 23, 2022
The American Prospect
Puerto Rico’s Colonial Status Left It Vulnerable to Hurricane Fiona
By Ryan Cooper
When a place is controlled by a government in which it has no representation, it will be abused.
Puerto Rico is reeling from a devastating hurricane, again. Fiona was far weaker than Hurricane Maria in 2017—the damage from which has still not been fully repaired five years later—and Fiona’s core did not directly strike the center of the island. But its slow speed meant torrential rain that knocked out the entire power grid and left about a third of Puerto Ricans without drinking water. Four days later, rescue efforts were still struggling to reach people stranded by washed-out roads and bridges.
September 22, 2022
News Northwestern
Recovery from Hurricane Fiona Cuts to the Heart of US Puerto Rico Relations
By Cody Mello-Klein
Eugene Smotkin’s sabbatical was interrupted over the weekend when he lost power at his house in San Juan, Puerto Rico. And Hurricane Fiona, which brought 80 mph winds, dropped 30 inches of rain on the island and caused widespread, intense flooding, hadn’t even arrived yet.
September 22, 2022
AP News
Biden Vows US Won’t Walk Away from Storm-Struck Puerto Rico
By Dánica Coto
SAN SALVADOR, Puerto Rico (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday the full force of the federal government is ready to help Puerto Rico recover from the devastation of Hurricane Fiona, while Bermuda and Canada’s Atlantic provinces prepared for a major blast from the Category 4 storm.
September 22, 2022
CNN
Many across Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic still have no power or running water as Hurricane Fiona churns toward Bermuda
By Aya Elamroussi and Alaa Elassar
(CNN)More than a million people in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic are without power or running water again Thursday as crews work to repair critical utilities disabled by Hurricane Fiona, which is now a Category 4 monster heading toward Bermuda.
September 22, 2022
CBS News
Rising from the ruins: Puerto Ricans reflect on progress, show "the path of what's possible" 5 years after Hurricane Maria
BY David Begnaud
Vega Baja, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Fiona brought catastrophic flooding and sweeping power outages to Puerto Rico this week — five years after Hurricane Maria battered the island. But even as they face new challenges, many Puerto Ricans show resilience and strength as they continue to recover
September 21, 2022
Vox
Why all Americans should be Paying Attention to Puerto Rico’s Power Grid
Hurricane Fiona Showed how Improvement Efforts Remain Hampered by Years of Neglect and Mismanagement
By Umair Irfan
The 3.1 million residents of Puerto Rico found themselves in a depressingly familiar island-wide blackout this week in the wake of Hurricane Fiona. Some of the power has been restored, but 1.1 million customers are still in the dark as of Wednesday morning. It may be days before all Puerto Ricans can switch on the lights and pump clean drinking water.
September 21, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
Senator Warren Asked Biden to Exempt the Island from Matching Funds to Repair Public Structures
By Jose Delgado
President Biden signed an emergency declaration on Sunday that allows financing 75% of the rescue work, protection of lives and property that are carried out in Puerto Rico to respond to Hurricane Fiona, which has caused millions of dollars in damage, maintains without electricity service to more than two-thirds of the population and caused at least four deaths.
September 21, 2022
USA Today
5 years later, Puerto Ricans are still struggling with Hurricane Maria's devastation. Then came Hurricane Fiona.
By Amanda Pérez Pintado, Grace Hauck and Adrianna Rodriguez
As Hurricane Fiona bore down on Puerto Rico this week, residents of the U.S. territory in the Caribbean didn’t have to look far for reminders of the last great storm to hit the area, exactly five years ago: Blue tarps are draped over thousands of homes, structures in need of repair still dot the island, and power outages remain persistent
September 21, 2022
ABC News
Groups helping Puerto Rico and The Dominican Republic during Hurricane Fiona
By Kiara Alfonseca
The Hispanic Federation has helped rebuild homes, health centers and farms, supply solar panels, and more through community-based projects following the devastation of Hurricane Maria. The federation responded then by supplying 25 relief planes that carried 7.4 million pounds of food, water, medicine, solar panels and resources to the island and coordinated with mayors on the ground to organize donation delivery.
September 21, 2022
Slate
There’s No Reason Puerto Rico Had to Go Through This Again
BY NITISH PAHWA
The most tragic aspect of this week’s catastrophe in Puerto Rico, where Hurricane Fiona has wrecked infrastructure and knocked out electricity for millions of residents, may be that solutions for protecting the island and its population from extreme-weather events like this have been known for years—and none of them have been implemented.
September 20, 2022
El Diario
Hurricane Maria Event Ends in Distress Call for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona
The Hispanic Federation and several Democratic congressmen made a call to accelerate the recovery efforts of Puerto Rico, after the blow of Hurricane Fiona, in an event in front of Congress scheduled to remember the victims of Hurricane Maria.
By Jesus Garcia
An event scheduled to remember the failures in the emergency caused by Hurricane Maria five years ago in Puerto Rico, as well as to list the pending ones, became a call for help due to Hurricane Fiona . Congressmen and members of the Hispanic Federation urged to lend support to the island authorities in the face of the disasters left by the storm in its wake, after hitting the island on Sunday afternoon.
September 20, 2022
PBS News Hour
Calls for reform in Puerto Rico as Hurricane Fiona leaves entire island without power
By William Brangham and Lizz Bolaji
Parts of the northern Caribbean washed away as heavy rains and winds from Hurricane Fiona bombarded islands. The storm hit the Turks and Caicos on Tuesday and may grow stronger as it heads to Bermuda. Puerto Rico saw some of the worst as homes, roads and businesses were still underwater after days of rain. William Brangham reports.
September 20, 2022
Roll Call
Capitol Lens | Action for Puerto Rico
By Tom Williams
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer speaks about federal assistance for Puerto Rico at a news conference Tuesday outside the Capitol. He and other Senate Democrats joined with members of the Hispanic Federation and Take Action for Puerto Rico! to rally support for the battered island territory, which is suffering new devastation from Hurricane Fiona and still recovering five years after Hurricane Maria. Monica Ramirez of Justice for Migrant Women appears in the background.
September 20, 2022
Politico
Schumer blasts Puerto Rico’s utility, grid manager for power failures
By Gloria Gonzales
“Instead of making it a resilient grid, a locally based grid, they’re busy fighting with each other,” Schumer said at a Hispanic Federation event on Tuesday in D.C.
September 18, 2022
NBC News
Five years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico's power crisis and a new storm revive grim memories
After one of the worst hurricanes to hit the island, "we are still exposed to the same risk," says an analyst about the "fragile" power grid amid the slow reconstruction.
Five years ago, Iraida Quiñones survived Hurricane Maria, one of the worst storms to ever hit Puerto Rico and the deadliest natural disaster on U.S. territory in 100 years.
On Friday she was bracing for Tropical Storm Fiona, which was set to bring heavy rains and winds. Late Sunday morning, Fiona strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane. As of Sunday afternoon, even though the hurricane was far weaker than Maria, the island had lost all power — like five years before.
September 15, 2022
Yahoo!
Projected harvest milestone comes as Puerto Rico marks five years since Hurricanes María and Irma
In the aftermath, Nespresso committed to invest $1 million and began working in partnership with the international development non-profit organization TechnoServe, the Hispanic Federation, and coffee farmers in Puerto Rico, to help rebuild the coffee industry. Nespresso has supported Hispanic Federation's efforts to distribute 2 million coffee seedlings to help farmers replace their coffee trees that were destroyed.
September 14, 2022
Kenosha News
Lin-Manuel Miranda, others seek Puerto Rico silver lining
By Glenn Gamboa
That coalition building was sorely needed, because Puerto Rico and its residents have an unusual image problem in philanthropy, said Hispanic Federation President and CEO Frankie Miranda. International nonprofits generally left it out of donations given to the neediest populations because it is part of the United States, while American nonprofits often left it out of programs by earmarking donations only for the 50 states.
September 11, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
The White House wants to work with Congress to achieve a solution on Medicaid in Puerto Rico
Without a new federal law, Medicaid coverage would fall from 76% to 55% in December.
The White House stated that it would work with Congress to seek a solution to the financing of the Medicaid program in Puerto Rico before the end of the year.September 10, 2022
The Hill
Why are some Puerto Ricans demanding the island cancel its contract with power company LUMA Energy?
Some residents have been upset over the private company’s role since before they even arrived on the island.
By: Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech
Over the last 13 months, Puerto Ricans have repeatedly taken to the streets to protest LUMA Energy, the private company that controls the island’s energy transmission and distribution, as frequent blackouts and high energy costs become more burdensome.
September 8, 2022
Daily Kos
Caribbean Matters: Five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the suffering continues
By Denise Oliver Velez
As we move closer to the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s complete devastation of Puerto Rico, on Sept. 20, 2017 (a horror from which the island has not recovered), it’s important to look at how things have changed there in the last half-decade—for better and for worse.
September 8, 2022
Nonprofit Quarterly Magazine
Five Years after Hurricane Maria, Energy Justice in Puerto Rico Gains Ground
By Jonathan Castillo Palanco and Ruth Santiago
However, a policy statement does not necessarily translate into action, and organizations and groups like Comité Diálogo Ambiental, Casa Pueblo, CAMBIO, El Puente, Barrio Eléctrico, and Hispanic Federation, among many others, have continued advocating to ensure that the vision for decentralized, rooftop, affordable solar energy is fully realized
September 08, 2022
Daily Kos
Caribbean Matters: Five years after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico, the suffering continues
As we move closer to the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Maria’s complete devastation of Puerto Rico, on Sept. 20, 2017 (a horror from which the island has not recovered), it’s important to look at how things have changed there in the last half-decade—for better and for worse.
September 01, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
Del PAN al SNAP: múltiples ventajas
En un momento de tanta discusión sobre las posibilidades transformadoras del uso de fondos federales en Puerto Rico, no debemos perder de vista una de las propuestas que más posibilidad de impacto tiene para nuestra Isla: la transición del Programa de Asistencia Nutricional (PAN) al Programa de Asistencia Nutricional Suplementaria (SNAP, en inglés).
August 20, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Jenniffer González urges canceling LUMA Energy contract
Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner in Washington asked the Secretary of Justice and Pedro Pierluisi’s administration to evaluate how to rescind the agreement.
Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González yesterday added fuel to the wave of criticism against LUMA Energy when she urged the Pedro Pierluisi administration to evaluate canceling the contract with the company operating the island’s electricity transmission and distribution systems.
August 20, 2022
Energy Central
President Biden’s Climate Act: A Win for the US, for Puerto Rico and for the Planet
Javier Rua-Jovet
In Puerto Rico, companies like Sunnova and Sunrun, as federal taxpayers, have always been able to pass on ITC savings to their Puerto Rico customers via their Third Party Ownership model - basically solar leases- so the restoration of the ITC is good news in itself. However, SESA, supported by key organizations and coalitions, primarily Hispanic Federation, Solar Access For All, the PR Chamber of Commerce, as well as Power4PR, focused its efforts on achieving a mechanism for direct use of the ITC by citizens of Puerto Rico, the territories and others little or no federal tax liability- and that end was actually achieved it in the House of Representatives.
July 18, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Study commissioned by the federal government reveals that the transition in Puerto Rico from the PAN to the SNAP will take 10 years
The Biden administration considers that the changes can be implemented more quickly, if approved by Congress.
By Jose Delgado
The federal government released this Monday a new feasibility study on Puerto Rico's transition to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which could represent, in a decade, an annual allocation for the Island of $4.5 billion and would require local government to overcome administrative and infrastructure challenges.
July 16, 2022
El Vocero
Congress could approve additional funds for the PAN
Brenda A. Vázquez Colón
After announcing that Puerto Rico will receive an increase of more than $130 million in the federal budget for the Nutritional Assistance Program (PAN) —which will increase benefits to recipients starting in October— it is expected that additional aid will be approved for residents of Puerto Rico who need money to buy food.
July 14, 2022
CNBC
New online tool lets Puerto Rico residents sign up for child tax credit payments worth up to $3,600 per child
The American Rescue Plan made the child tax credit more generous to U.S. parents, including Puerto Rico residents.
By Lori Konish
The expanded child tax credit, and monthly payments that came with it, expired last year. But eligible Puerto Rico residents can still claim the sums of up to $3,600 per child. Now, Code for America, a nonprofit tech organization, is making it possible for Puerto Rico residents to use its free, mobile-friendly online sign-up portal — GetCTC — so they can access the credit.
July 5, 2022
Canary Media
Puerto Rico is pushing LNG when it says it’s shifting to renewables
The U.S. territory has pledged to transition to clean energy, but it backed a controversial liquefied natural gas terminal and may increase LNG imports.
By Maria Gallucci
After Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico five years ago, toppling the island’s electricity system, the government vowed to build a cleaner, more resilient grid in its place. To date, the progress has been piecemeal — so much so that residents are taking matters into their own hands, installing tens of thousands of rooftop solar systems. Now regulators are finally on the cusp of approving dozens of large-scale solar and battery storage projects, slowly moving Puerto Rico closer toward its goal of using 100 percent renewable electricity by 2050. At the same time, though, experts say the island may be undermining this effort by continuing to invest in fossil fuel infrastructure.
July 1, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Ritchie Torres expects action this month on his project to advance the departure of the Board
The Puerto Rican congressman presented legislation to allow the fiscal entity to cease operating over the elected government of Puerto Rico two years after certifying two balanced budgets.
By Jose Delgado
Puerto Rican Democrat Ritchie Torres hopes that his project aimed at accelerating the cessation of functions of the Fiscal Oversight Board (JSF) can be considered in July in the Natural Resources Committee and go to a vote in the plenary session of the United States House of Representatives in September.
June 29, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Where are the leaders who will fight for the SSI?
By Jose Enriquez Fernandez
The recent and masterful series of reports in this newspaper on the reality of the residents of Puerto Rico, to whom the federal Supreme Court did the injustice of denying them access to the benefits of the Supplemental Security Income Program (SSI), contained a flashing warning to the island's political class.
June 28, 2022
Utility Dive
Puerto Ricans have built the largest renewable peaker plant in the world. Let’s use it.
By Javier Rúa-Jovet
It’s no coincidence that this year’s gathering of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or SEARUC, was held in San Juan. All eyes are on Puerto Rico’s fascinating story of innovation in resilient energy, spurred principally by thousands of solar batteries deployed since the devastating hurricanes of 2017.
June 21, 2022
The Hill
What UN recognition of Puerto Rico’s right to independence means for Congress
A group of Democratic congress members, including the House majority leader, on Thursday, May 19, 2022, proposed a binding plebiscite to decide whether Puerto Rico should become a state or gain some sort of independence.
By Andrés Córdova
The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization on June 20 approved a resolution declaring the right of the people of Puerto Rico to their self-determination and independence. This is the 40th occasion since 1972 in which this special committee — led by Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua,not exactly stalwart defenders of democratic principles — seek to have the General Assembly declare Puerto Rico a colony of the United States.
June 8, 2022
El Nuevo Día
US government argument on SSI in Puerto Rico falls flat
Although Puerto Rico residents are excluded from SSI benefits for allegedly not paying federal taxes, the island nevertheless contributes billions annually to federal tax coffers.
By David Cordero Mercado and Marga Parés Arroyo
For the past two decades, Puerto Rico has contributed between $3 billion and $4.6 billion annually to the federal government’s general fund, according to data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The island’s contribution throughout those years has been, at times, greater than that of states such as Vermont, Wyoming, Montana, Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
June 7, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
Contrary to the argument of the federal government, Puerto Ricans make multimillion-dollar contributions to the treasury
By David Cordero Mercado and Marga Parés Arroyo
Although Puerto Rico residents are excluded from the SSI program on tax grounds, the contribution to the U.S. general fund is substantial on an annual basis.
June 6, 2022
Vote Solar
Advocates Praise President Biden’s Executive Action on Solar Production
By Odette Mucha
Today, the Biden Administration announced executive action to resume stalled solar projects, restore certainty to the country’s solar industry, and bolster domestic manufacturing of clean energy technologies.
June 6, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Victims of discrimination: family recounts how they lost SSI when they returned to Puerto Rico
SSI brought a Puerto Rican family back from economic ruin when they most needed it, only to lose the help as soon as they returned to the island.
By Marga Parés Arroyo and David Cordero Mercado
Isabella López Aponte, 5, is an active and cheerful girl. While this interview is going on, she sings -leaving shyness behind- the famous musical theme from the movie Encanto “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Then she asks for a turn to talk about how much she loves her older sister, Anelisse. With the energy she shows by playing in her living room, no one would suspect that the girl struggles with seven congenital heart conditions that can only be cured once a heart transplant is available at an indeterminate time.
June 5, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Congress motionless on the extension of Supplemental Security Income to Puerto Rico
Three measures, in addition to Biden's social reform project, still await congressional action.
By Marga Parés Arroyo and David Cordero Mercado
After the overwhelming decision of the Supreme Court of the United States that validated (8-1) to exclude residents of Puerto Rico from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program in the case of José Luis Vaello Madero, the opportunity to unlock that access seems to be in the hands of the Congress, of Democratic majority.
June 4, 2022
El Nuevo Día
They fight for SSI for Puerto Rico: "We are not claiming anything that we do not need and have no right to"
A 36-year-old man is leading a class lawsuit, along with 11 others, against the Social Security Administration to apply for access to the Supplemental Security Income program, which currently awards up to $841 a month to an individual and up to $1,261 to eligible couples.
By Marga Parés Arroyo and David Cordero Mercado
He was born premature and without prior prenatal care. Emanuel Rivera Fuentes has lived his 36 years in bed due to multiple conditions he suffers, including cerebral palsy, severe reflux, dislocated hips and scoliosis.
May 27, 2022
Pacific Daily News
Civil rights groups argue that Insular Cases should be overturned
By Jackson Stephens
Equally American joined with the Hispanic Federation, American Civil Liberties Union and LatinoJustice PRLDEF to say the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States vs. Vaello Madero highlighted the unequal treatment of those living in territories based on outdated racial laws.
May 24, 2022
NBC News
Civil rights groups: Overturn racist Supreme Court rulings used to deny benefits to Puerto Ricans
By Nicole Acevedo
The American Civil Liberties Union, Hispanic Federation, LatinoJustice PRLDEF and Equally American joined forces Tuesday to launch a campaign to overturn the Insular Cases, which have long upheld a series of disparities when it comes to rights in the U.S. territories and the 50 states.
May 2, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Diaspora groups affirm that it is non-negotiable that a consensus agreement includes a status
By José Delgado
Diaspora groups insisted today that a "fair, inclusive and transparent" self-determination process must include the convening of a Status Assembly.
May 2, 2022
New York Times
Gorsuch Calls for Overruling ‘Shameful’ Cases on U.S. Territories
The justice urged his colleagues to revisit the Insular Cases, which denied full constitutional protection to unincorporated territories. A petition filed last week gives them a chance.
By Adam Liptak
Justice Neil M. Gorsuch last month issued a 10-page concurring opinion that amounted to a plea. The Supreme Court, he wrote, must find a case in which to overrule a series of discredited decisions issued in the early 1900s that were based on racist assumptions and imperial ambitions.
May 2, 2022
Bloomberg Law
SCOTUS Declares U.S. Citizens in Puerto Rico Inferior
By Ediberto Roman & Ernesto Sagas
A recent Supreme Court decision denying certain Social Security benefits to U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico “rubs salt into the collective wound” of those citizens by reminding them (again) of their lower status in American society, writes Ediberto Román, professor of law at Florida International University College of Law, and Ernesto Sagás, ethnic studies professor at Colorado State University.
Colonialism, an issue that rarely occupies the minds of most Americans, has once again reared its ugly head with the April 21 (8-1) U.S. Supreme Court decision in the United States v. Vaello Madero. The court—following the nativist and xenophobic decisions of more than a century ago—upheld the federal government’s exclusion of Puerto Rico from a Social Security benefits program, which will stop more than $2 billion a year from flowing to U.S. citizens living on the Island.
May 1, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Extending SSI benefits in Puerto Rico is a matter of humanity
By Enrique Camacho
I have been very saddened by the news that the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution does not require Congress to extend Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico. In this way, the high judicial forum determined that Congress can treat the territories differently for tax and benefit purposes.
April 28, 2022
NBC News
Businesses in Puerto Rico file lawsuit against power company after blackout
By Nicole Acevedo
The private company that took over Puerto Rico’s power transmission and distribution last year is facing its first class-action lawsuit from big food franchises and other businesses following a massive blackout that plunged most of the island into darkness earlier this month.
April 26, 2022
Psychiatric News
Increased Medicaid Funding for Territories Urgently Needed, Experts Say
By Katie O’Connor
Extended availability of enhanced Medicaid funding has long been undependable for U.S. territories. But a number of natural disasters over the past several years, in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, have highlighted the urgency of ensuring that the territories have steady access to funds to help residents access care.
April 23, 2022
ABC News Extra
How does the Supreme Court's decision affect Puerto Ricans who would be exempt from supplemental social security?
By Veronique Abreu Tañón
Veronique Abreu Tañón interviewed Maritere Padilla, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy Hispanic Federation P.R.
April 23, 2022
Crux
Puerto Ricans decry SCOTUS decision denying them federal disability benefits
By John Lavenburg
NEW YORK – Father Enrique Camacho’s grandmother died Feb. 2, after long battles with dementia and metastatic cancer. She didn’t get Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits and the family couldn’t afford 24-hour homecare nurses, so Camcho’s aunt quit her job and, for the last two years, slept in the hallway adjacent to the grandmother’s room to provide care.
April 22, 2022
El Vocero
No from the Supreme Court of the United States to the Supplemental Social Security for the Island
By Eric de Leon
In the opinion of the Director of Politics and Advocacy of the Hispanic Federation in Puerto Rico, Maritere Padilla, the decision validates the power of Congress to discriminate against Puerto Ricans through the territorial clause, evidenced in the fact that the basis that supports the refusal of the Federal Supreme Court in endorsing the Supplementary Social Security for the Island is purely economic.
April 22, 2022
Truthout
AOC Slams Supreme Court for Limiting Puerto Ricans’ Access to Disability Checks
By Sharon Zhang
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) pushed back on a Supreme Court decision that limits Puerto Ricans’ access to government benefits on Thursday, condemning the decision for advancing the U.S.’s colonialist grip over the territory.
April 22, 2022
Marca
Do Puerto Ricans pay Federal Taxes and Contribute to the US Economy?
They don't have the right to some federal benefits
By Sam
The U.S. Supreme Court has recently ruled that Puerto Ricans don't have a constitutional right to Supplemental Security Income, which is available to residents who are older than 65, blind or disabled.
April 21, 2022
Latino Justice
Civil Rights Groups Condemn the Supreme Court’s Decision in U.S. v. Vaello-Madero
By Carolina González & Sarai Bejarano
Hispanic Federation and its allies recognize this decision as a setback, not a defeat, and vow to continue our collective work to ensure all U.S. citizens are treated equally and fairly regardless of where they live.
April 21, 2022
Axios
Supreme Court: Congress does not have to grant disability benefits to Puerto Rico Residents
By Oriana Gonzalez
The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Constitution does not require Congress to extend a federal disability benefits program to residents of Puerto Rico. The big picture: In an 8-1 decision, the court held that, because Congress treats Puerto Rico residents "differently" from those living in the states for tax law purposes, "it could do the same for benefits programs."
April 21, 2022
The Washington Post
High Court rules Congress can exclude Puerto Ricans from aid program
By Robern Barnes
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Congress may continue excluding residents of Puerto Rico from a federal program that aids low-income elderly, disabled and blind people. The decision was 8 to 1, the lone dissenter being Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whose parents were born on the island
April 21, 2022
AP News
Court upholds Puerto Ricans’ exclusion from benefits program
By Mark Sherman
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has upheld the differential treatment of residents of Puerto Rico, ruling that Congress was within its power to exclude them from a benefits program that’s available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The court held by an 8-1 vote Thursday that making Puerto Ricans ineligible for the Supplemental Security Income program, which provides benefits to older, disabled and blind Americans, did not unconstitutionally discriminate against them.
April 21, 2022
CNBC
Supreme Court denies federal disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico
By Kevin Breuninger
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a federal law that denies disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico. The court ruled 8-1 that Congress can deny Supplemental Income Security, or SSI, benefits to Puerto Rico residents because they don’t pay all federal taxes. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the court’s three liberals, whose family stems from Puerto Rico, dissented.
April 21, 2022
CNN
Supreme Court rules Puerto Ricans don't have constitutional rights to some federal benefits
By Ariane de Vogue
Washington (CNN)Congress can exclude residents of Puerto Rico from some federal disability benefits available to those who live in the 50 states, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday. The 8-1 opinion was written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissenting.
April 21, 2022
Bloomberg News
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Federal Benefits for Puerto Rico Residents
By Greg Stoher
The federal government can continue to exclude Puerto Rico from a Social Security benefits program, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a decision that will stop more than $2 billion a year from flowing to the island’s residents. Voting 8-1 to overturn a lower court ruling, the justices said the Constitution’s equal protection clause doesn’t require the inclusion of Puerto Rico’s residents in the Supplemental Security Income program, which covers needy people who are blind, otherwise disabled or elderly.
April 21, 2022
The Hill
Supreme Court leaves Puerto Rico in territorial limbo
By Andrés L. Córdova
The Supreme Court announced its opinion in United States v. Vaello-Maderoon April 21. This opinion reverses the Court of Appeals and District Court judgment that the exclusion of the territory of Puerto Rico from the Supplemental Security Income benefits (SSI) runs afoul of the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause. The opinion was 8-to-1, with Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch concurring, Justice Sonia Sotomayor dissenting.
April 21, 2022
MSNBC
Supreme Court rejects disability payments for Puerto Rico residents
By Josh Gerstein
The Supreme Court on Thursday turned down a bid to allow Puerto Rico residents to claim benefits under the federal government’s main disability insurance program, ruling that the Constitution does not require Congress to offer such payments to residents of the island even though people born there are U.S. citizens
April 21, 2022
CBS News
Supreme Court Says Congress Can Deny Federal Disability Benefits to Puerto Rico residents
By Melissa Quinn
Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday said Congress is not required to extend federal disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico, finding that denying the payments, which are by law available only to residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, does not violate the Constitution.
April 19, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
Delegation of the Biden government will be in Puerto Rico for meetings on economic development
By Jose Delgado
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves will lead a delegation from Joe Biden's administration in San Juan on Thursday and Friday to discuss with Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and interest groups how the federal government can spur Puerto Rico's economic development.
April 18, 2022
El Nuevo Dia
Child Tax Credit: run over identity verification process in Puerto Rico
By Carmen Isaura Rodriguez
This year, more people than ever are eligible for the Child Tax Credit (CTC), a financial respite to face the skyrocketing cost of living in Puerto Rico.
April 14, 2022
LA Times News
Column: Puerto Rico's Futuro Status Should Not Be A Pawn In Political Gameplay
By Jean Guerrero
For Democrats who want to stop the right-wing assault on democracy, statehood for Puerto Rico can seem like a simple fix — one so enticing it may be easy to forget the will of the Puerto Rican people. As a Boricua journalist who covers the insurrectionist right and comes from a pro-statehood family, I’d love to see Puerto Rico become a state. But Puerto Rico’s fate is not for any person stateside to dictate.
April 13, 2022
Vision Newspaper
Thousands of people in Puerto Rico will be eligible to receive the Dependent Minor Credit
By Admin
Thousands of people in Puerto Rico will be eligible for the first time this year to receive the Dependent Minor Credit or “Child Tax Credit” (CTC) and the Work Credit, also known as the “Earned Income Tax Credit” or EITC.
April 11, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Jill Biden encourages residents of Puerto Rico to claim credits for dependent children and work
The First Lady of the United States led an event at the White House with the Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez
By Jose Delgado
The first lady of the United States, Jill Biden , today, Monday, led a new White House effort to encourage residents of Puerto Rico to claim the benefits of the credits for dependent children (CTC) and for work, expanded by the federal economic rescue act (ARPA) and that represent hundreds of millions of additional dollars for the island's economy.
April 7, 2022
MIC
PUERTO RICO’S MAJOR BLACKOUT RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT HURRICANE SEASON
More than a million people were left without power on the island after a power plant failure this week.
By Vanessa Taylor
When it comes to climate change, a single, apoplectic event isn’t the real cause for concern. We’re probably not going to live through the movie 2012. Instead, it’s the long-term impact of climate disasters that strike year after year, leaving people with no time for recovery, that pose the greatest threat. That much is illustrated in Puerto Rico where a major power outage poses concerns about the potential devastation of this year’s hurricane season.
April 7, 2022
CNN
Puerto Rico crews scramble to restore power after island-wide outage
By Melissa Alonso and Jason Hanna
Electric service restoration efforts were still underway Thursday evening in Puerto Rico, a utility company said, a day after the start of an island-wide outage that left many people in the dark overnight and prompted school cancellations and other interruptions across the US territory.
April 6, 2022
NBC News
Massive blackout in Puerto Rico leaves over a million without power
"This is horrible," said a San Juan resident after a fire at a power station plunged the U.S. territory into darkness, forcing school and government closures.
By Nicole Acevedo
At least 1.2 million power customers in Puerto Rico remain without electricity on Thursday afternoon after an overnight fire at a main power plant caused the biggest blackout so far this year across the U.S. territory, forcing it to cancel classes and shutter government offices.
April 4, 2022
The Hill
Puerto Rico health care providers call for Medicare equity
By Rafael Bernal
Puerto Rico’s health care industry is raising the alarm over disparities in how the territory’s Medicare plans are funded, hurting the quality of services for around 630,000 senior citizens.
March 29, 2022
Telemundo Puerto Rico
Cut to NAP: Beneficiaries would see a reduction in their monthly income
Beneficiaries of the Nutritional Assistance Program (PAN) would experience a cut in benefits between May and June, Telenoticias learned. This was due to the conclusion of emergency COVID-19 aid provided by Congress in 2021, under the American Rescue Act (ARPA).
March 29, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Joe Biden reaffirms support for parity
U.S. President calls Congress to eliminate Medicaid funding caps, grant parity in NAP and SSI
By José Delagado
In presenting his FY 2023 budget proposal, President Joe Biden reaffirmed yesterday his call for Congress to grant Puerto Rico parity in nutrition assistance, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
March 28, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Joe Biden reiterates in his 2023 budget his commitment to parity for Puerto Rico in NAP, Medicaid and SSI
The president of the United States has now proposed an increase in food assistance
By Jose Delgado
In presenting his proposed budget for the federal fiscal year 2023, President Joe Biden reaffirmed today, Monday, his demand for Congress to grant parity to Puerto Rico in food assistance, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).
March 19, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Puerto Rico needs federal equity in Medicare Advantage
By Robert Pando
Last week, Congress, President Joe Biden, and his Secretary of Health Javier Becerra adopted the necessary measures to give continuity to the Medicaid program on the island, known as the Vital Plan. Although there is still a long way to go, we celebrate this news as an important event after multiple efforts aimed at increasing the funds allocated to Medicaid on the Island.
March 17, 2022
The Guam Daily Post
Attorneys: SSI ruling for Guam residents 'must stand'
By Haidee Eugenio Gilbert
Guam resident Katrina Schaller died without seeing the fruits of her successful challenge to the unconstitutionality of denying federal Supplemental Security Income for about 24,000 qualifying American citizens with disabilities living in Guam, her attorneys said.
March 14, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Joe Biden Signed into law measure that improves Puerto Rico’s access to Medicaid until December
The President of the United States signed the legislation in a ceremony at the White House.
By Jose Delgado
President Joe Biden signed into law this afternoon the budget omnibus that ends financing the government for the rest of the federal fiscal year and improves Puerto Rico's access to the Medicaid program until December .
March 14, 2022
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Tax Credit Expansions Expected to Significantly Reduce Poverty in Puerto Rico
By Javier Balmaceda
The American Rescue Plan’s expansions of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are expected to significantly reduce poverty in Puerto Rico, according to two studies published by organizations based in Puerto Rico. The two credits combined could provide more than $2 billion to Puerto Rico families in 2022 as they file their 2021 taxes.
March 14, 2022
Bloomberg Law
The Insular Cases: It’s Time to Turn the Page
By Lía Fiol-Matta
In November 2021, numerous organizations joined the Hispanic Federation in asking President Biden to withdraw the government’s appeal in Vaello-Madero as well as Peña Martínez and to stop relying on the Insular Cases in litigation. Early this year, various prominent civil and human rights organizations joined the American Civil Liberties Union calling on the DOJ to “make clear that the Insular Cases and the racism they represent are no longer sanctioned by the federal government.”
March 10, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Senate approved budget project that improves Puerto Rico’s access to Medicaid
By José Delgado
The US Senate tonight completed the legislative process on the "budget bus" that will finance the government for the rest of the federal fiscal year 2022 -which ends on September 30-, and will improve Puerto Rico's access to Medicaid until December 13 next.
March 10, 2022
Politico
New Covid funding frozen amid Democrats’ divides
By Sarah Owermohle and Krista Mahr
A $200 million boost for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program as long as the territory establishes a reimbursement floor for providers. The measure would also increase federal contributions to the program through December after longtime requests from Puerto Rico for more support.
March 9, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Despite setbacks, the House approved a one-year increase in Medicaid funds for Puerto Rico
By José Delgado
Tonight, the United States House of Representatives approved a budget 'omnibus' that would improve Puerto Rico's access to Medicaid funds during this calendar year 2022. The legislation would increase student Pell grants by $400, finish allocating PAN funds and allocate $26 million to finish cleaning the platform of the collapsed Arecibo radio telescope.
March 7, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Congressional leadership tries to approve the federal budget while still pressing for Medicaid for Puerto Rico
By José Delgado
"We are very close to an agreement," Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer said this morning about the budget omnibus in which the text regarding the health program would be included.
March 7, 2022
State of the Planet
$12 Billion Investment in Puerto Rico’s Energy System Must Not Replicate Existing Harms
By Ruth Santiago
In September 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allocated $9.6 billion for electric system work in Puerto Rico. Subsequently, more federal funds have been committed, bringing the total to approximately $12 billion. This represents the largest allocation of FEMA funds in the agency’s history.
March 6, 2022
El Nuevo Día
Puerto Rican officials are still pressing in search of stability in the access to Medicaid funds
Officials work to include language in the budget bill Congress wants to approve this week
By José Delgado
Puerto Rican officials and health industry representatives are pushing for the budget bill that Congress wants to pass this week to include language that would improve and stabilize Puerto Rico’s access to Medicaid, which largely funds the Puerto Rican government’s health plan.
March 4, 2022
Renewable Energy Magazine
Helping Puerto Rico Achieve 100% Renewable Energy by 2050
Researchers at Berkeley Lab are working with five other Department of Energy national labs to develop a roadmap for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to meet its 100% renewable energy mandate. A new Memorandum of Understanding kickstarts this “PR100 Study,” a two-year project funded by FEMA to conduct a comprehensive analysis of pathways for Puerto Rico to meet its clean energy goals, with an emphasis on power system reliability, resilience, and generation planning.
February 24, 2022
El Nuevo Día
“We are short”, laments the Secretary of Health about Medicaid funds
By Marga Parés Arroyo
The Medicaid funds assigned to Puerto Rico are insufficient, particularly the percentage of federal medical assistance (FMAP). The current FMAP assigned to Puerto Rico is 55%. Under this figure, Mellado reiterated, the government of Puerto Rico has not been able to implement a series of federal programs that it is supposed to have available.
February 24, 2022
NimB
CNE: Fiscal Plan structural reforms won’t generate growth Puerto Rico needs
The Center for a New Economy has taken a look at the impact of the Fiscal Plan for Fiscal Year 2022 in structural reforms, debt restructuring, Medicaid, pensions, and the University of Puerto Rico, concluding, among other things, that structural plans will not generate the growth that Puerto Rico requires.
February 22, 2022
CBS News
Rebuilding Puerto Rico's power grid
By Vladimir Duthiers, Anne-Marie Green, and Gloria Gonzales
Nearly five years after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, the federal government has pledged billions of dollars to repair, modernize and strengthen the island's power grid. Deputy energy editor for Politico, Gloria Gonzales, joins Vladimir Duthiers and Anne-Marie Green to discuss the proposed shift toward renewable energy on the island.
February 21, 2022
D1SoftballNews
Blackout: About 20,000 customers remain without electricity in Puerto Rico
By James
Some 20,000 customers continued this afternoon, Monday, without electricity service in various municipalities of Puerto Rico, according to LUMA Energy. A “major” interruption in service left over 700,000 subscribers without electricity. The event mainly affected the northeastern part of the archipelago. The private company —which manages the transmission and distribution of the electrical system— estimated that for 5:30 “all clients impacted by this event will be restored.”
February 17, 2022
Nacla Reporting
The Devastating Costs of Puerto Rico’s Solar “Farms”
The road to achieving sustainable energy in Puerto Rico should not be paved by bulldozing agricultural lands and coastal plains.
By Ruth Santiago, Hilda Lloréns, and Catalina de Onís
The devastation wrought by the 2017 hurricane season showed that the Puerto Rico archipelago is already experiencing some of the gravest impacts of the climate crisis. And yet, it appears that powerful economic interests and lack of planning continue to take precedence over mitigating the archipelago’s worsening and intensifying climate-related emergencies. But unbeknownst to many, environmental destruction, degradation, and harm are also increasingly threatening inland areas, under the banner of developing the archipelago’s sustainable energy infrastructure.
February 15, 2022
Huff Post
Civil Rights Groups To Biden DOJ: Stop Using 100-Year-Old Racist Precedents In Court
Residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories have been denied equal rights, including the right to vote, because they were considered “uncivilized race[s].”
By Paul Blumenthal
A group of 13 civil rights organizations sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland last week, calling on the Department of Justice to stop using a series of racist, century-old Supreme Court precedents in its court arguments. The letter ― signed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Hispanic Federation, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, among other groups ― targets a series of Supreme Court rulings from the early 20th century, known as the Insular Cases.
February 14, 2022
Julibee USA Network
Federal Agencies Assist Puerto Rico Deploy Aid for Climate Resilient Energy
By Mizraim Belman Guerrero
Washington DC –Federal agencies and Puerto Rico signed an agreement to speed up $12 billion in disaster recovery funds to strengthen Puerto Rico energy infrastructure. The Departments of Energy, Homeland Security and Housing and Urban Development signed a memorandum with Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi. The island suffered more than $100 billion in estimated damages when Hurricanes Maria and Irma struck in 2017.
February 12, 2022
The Davis Vanguard
Guest Commentary: The Most Racist Supreme Court Cases You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Why does the Biden administration’s Department of Justice continue to rely on cases that presume people in the territories are “alien races” composing “savage tribes”?
By Alejandro Agustin Ortiz and Adriel I. Cepeda Derieux
Over 100 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of rulings known as the Insular Cases that still prevent millions of people — overwhelmingly, people of color — from accessing certain constitutional rights and protections. These rulings continue to uphold systemic racism today.
February 11, 2022
Latino Rebels
Civil Rights Groups Call on Biden Administration to Condemn Insular Cases
By Hector Luis Alamo
On Thursday, 12 civil rights organizations and the nonprofit Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar calling on them to “reject the Insular Cases and the racist assumptions they represent.” The Insular Cases, as you know, are a line of Supreme Court cases that held that the ‘alien races’ and ‘savage tribes’ in Guam, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories acquired as a result of the Spanish-American War were not entitled to the same constitutional rights and protections afforded to residents of the states, nor were they on a path to full political participation.” reads the letter from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Brennan Center for Justice, Dēmos, Hispanic Federation, Human Rights Campaign, and others.
February 11, 2022
NBC News
Rights groups: Biden should disavow racist rulings against Puerto Rico, territories
In century-old Supreme Court rulings known as the Insular Cases, a Justice said U.S. territories were “inhabited by alien races” and they shouldn't have the same rights.
WASHINGTON — Civil rights groups on Thursday asked President Joe Biden’s administration to disavow century-old Supreme Court rulings suffused with racist language that gave the government license to treat people living in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories differently than other Americans.
February 11, 2022
NimB
Coalition for Food Security calls on US Congress for more funding
The Coalition for Food Security Puerto Rico has called on US Congress to provide an additional $1 billion in nutrition aid funds to American citizens residing in Puerto Rico. The new appropriation will address a benefits cliff resulting from the loss of significant aid provided by Congress in 2021, the organization stated. Under federal legislation, Puerto Rico receives nutrition funds through the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), a capped block grant that provides significantly reduced monthly benefits to NAP participants on the island.
February 10, 2022
Oil Price
Puerto Rico’s Ambitious Clean Energy Plan
By Haley Zaremba
Nearly five years ago, Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy. Or rather, it declared the closest thing to bankruptcy that a state or territory can declare when it announced in 2017 that it would not be able to repay its debts on the heels of a devastating hurricane that left the island in desperate condition. Now, just last week, a United States federal judge finally approved a deal to get Puerto Rico out of bankruptcy and help the territory to take significant steps toward becoming financially solvent.
February 10, 2022
ACLU
The Most Racist Supreme Court cases You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
Why does the Biden administration's Department of Justice continue to rely on cases that presume people in the territories are “alien races” composing “savage tribes”?
Over 100 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a series of rulings known as the Insular Cases that still prevent millions of people — overwhelmingly, people of color — from accessing certain constitutional rights and protections. These rulings continue to uphold systemic racism today.
February 10, 2022
Reuters
Rights groups urge Biden to repudiate racist U.S. Supreme Court rulings
By Lawrence Hurly
The activists pointed to Biden's January 2021 executive order in which he pledged to advance racial equity. Other groups signing the letter included the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Hispanic Federation, a Latino advocacy group.
December 1, 2021
STAT News
Seven Policies in Biden’s Spending Plan Aimed at Health Equity
By Rachel Cohrs
Democrats have made big promises to tackle racial inequities across society, including in health care, since protest for racial justice swept the nation in 2020. Until recently, it wasn’t clear how either lawmakers of the Biden Administration would deliver on those goals - but some of the first concrete steps are now taking shape in the new spending plan Democrats are moving. The package would provide cheaper coverage options for low-income adults in states that haven’t expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and provide stable funding for coverage programs for children and people in the U.S. territories.
November 30, 2021
Eyes on the Ties
Utilities Continue to Profit from Pandemic Misery & Obstruct Energy Transition
By Rob Galbraith, Munira Lokhandwala and Derek Seidman
Hardly a day passes where we don’t read another horror story about utility companies and how they are failing us. Gouging captive customers. Gobbling up bailout money. Stalling on renewable energy. The list goes on. The pandemic has only made things worse. Covid-19 has wreaked havoc on the lives of utility customers. Millions of people fell behind on their gas, electric and water bills. One study found that utility debt increased from an already crisis-level of $12 billion pre-pandemic to an astounding $32 billion at the end of 2020. Currently, approximately 15 to 20% of U.S. households are behind on their utility bills. Meanwhile, utilities companies across the country have raked in over a billion dollars in federal CARES Actmoney while still leaving their customers without electricity, heat, and water.
November 28, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
Why is it Important for Puerto Rico that Congress Avoid a Partial Shutdown of the Federal Government?
This week it again has a deadline to approve a temporary budget resolution.
By Jose A. Delgado
Congress again has a deadline this week to approve a temporary budget resolution and determine how to continue, at least, the current funding for Puerto Rico under the Medicaid program. Upon returning to their sessions after a week of recess on the occasion of Thanksgiving, the urgent task of both legislative chambers is to approve a resolution that avoids a partial closure of the federal government at midnight on Friday, when current budgetary legislation expires. The Senate will meet again on Monday. The lower house returns on Tuesday. Democratic leaders had proposed a two-week extension of the current budget, but Republican spokespeople - at a time when the support of at least 10 of their senators is required - have warned that the negotiations on federal spending for fiscal year 2022 will have to last until February or next March.
November 20, 2021
NPR
4 Years After Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico Power Grid Remains in Poor Shape
NPR's Michel Martin talks with journalist Eliván Martínez Mercado about the state of Puerto Rico's power grid years after Hurricane Maria devastated it.
By Michel Martin
It's been four years since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico's electric power grid. Yet even after billions of dollars were allocated by the federal government to repair it, the island's energy infrastructure is still in terrible shape. Blackouts continued this summer as the two entities responsible for operating the grid pointed fingers at each other over who is to blame. One of those two entities is Luma, a private company that was awarded a contract last year to distribute electricity around the island. The other is the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, known as PREPA, which used to be in charge of the whole system and now continues to operate the power plants.
November 19, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
The lower house approves a bill that includes the extension of the SSI to Puerto Rico
The legislation with Joe Biden's comprehensive social agenda is expected to be amended in the Senate, also promotes to increase Medicaid funds for the island to $3.6 billion annually
By Jose A. Delgado
The United States House of Representatives approved today (220-213) the budget reconciliation project with President Joe Biden's comprehensive social agenda, which proposes extending the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to residents of Puerto Rico and increasing Medicaid allocations for the Island to $3.6 billion annually. The legislation - which now passes to the Senate, where it will most likely be amended - is considered by Democrats as the most important measure of social initiatives since the New Deal of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in the 1930s. The bill proposes to create a universal pre-kindergarten program, complemented by comprehensive funding for childcare. In addition, it promotes granting four weeks of family and medical leave with pay for the birth of a child, recovery from a serious illness or having to care for a family member with a serious illness.
November 19, 2021
Orlando Sentinel
Puerto Rico electrical grid mismanagement is a disgrace
By Tom Sanzillo and Alexer Valenica
Recently a Puerto Rico judge found Wayne Stensby, CEO of the private company Luma Energy that took over operation of Puerto Rico’s electrical grid this summer, in contempt of court and ordered his arrest due to Luma’s continued refusal to provide information to the Puerto Rico legislature. I, Tom, have closely followed Puerto Rico’s grid privatization and transformation process for years. It is more than evident that the privatization process that created the current mess was never about solving the very real problems plaguing Puerto Rico’s electrical system. Rather, this was deliberately designed to be a cash cow for Luma executives and their mainland consultants.
November 19, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
Biden administration insists Puerto Rico is guaranteed nearly $3 billion in Medicaid funds
Government Accountability Office and the Congressional Research Service reports contradicted the interpretation of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
By Jose A. Delgado
Washington- The Joe Biden administration insists that a 2019 law allows it to permanently allocate nearly $3 billion in Medicaid funds to Puerto Rico annually, despite recent reports by government and congressional offices that contradict that theory.
November 17, 2021
Bond Buyer
Unions, Puerto Rico Oversight Board argue on decisive pension law interpretation
By Robert Slavin
Teachers’ and judges’ unions and organizations argued Wednesday with the Puerto Rico Oversight Board about how the bankruptcy court must interpret a local law on pensions, with the outcome likely to determine the viability of the proposed Plan of Adjustment. The teachers and judges, through their attorneys, said Act 53 bars the board, if it goes ahead with the current Plan of Adjustment, from introducing its plans to end the cost-of-living increases for the judicial pensions and freeze the defined benefit pension amounts for both teachers and judges. The teachers and judges made the arguments at the Plan of Adjustment confirmation hearing. The legislature passed and the governor signed into law Act 53 on Oct. 26. The law authorizes the plan’s new restructured bonds and related Contingent Value Instruments. It conditions the new bonds on the board following through on several commitments to the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico government and to its municipal governments. It explicitly says there will be no cuts to the monthly defined benefits for those already receiving those pensions.
November 17, 2021
Jacobin
Puerto Rico Is Facing Down Another Undemocratic, Austerity-Obsessed Bankruptcy Deal
By Cathy Kunkel
Financial vultures are pushing a new round of bankruptcy and austerity in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans themselves, meanwhile, continue to fight for pensions, basic services, and a democratic say in their lives that has been denied them so long. A federal judge in New York will soon be ruling on the largest local government bankruptcy in US history — not of any city in New York, but of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The judge will decide whether to approve a debt restructuring deal that will have major consequences for Puerto Rico’s people and economy over the next several decades. It is a deal reached by holders of Puerto Rican debt and the Financial Oversight and Management Board, a congressionally created fiscal control board with the power to negotiate on behalf of Puerto Rico’s government.
November 17, 2021
NPR (Washington, DC)
Critics say Puerto Rico's bankruptcy deal will endanger funds for public services
Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy four years ago. Officials and creditors have reached a deal, and a federal bankruptcy judge is considering whether to approve it.
By Adrian Flondo
Officials in Puerto Rico have reached a deal with the island's creditors on restructuring the massive debt load that drove it to bankruptcy four years ago. The U.S. territory has been buckling under the massive weight of more than $70 billion it owes. Now a federal bankruptcy judge is considering whether to approve the agreement. In Puerto Rico, the No. 1 question about this deal is whether the government will have enough money left over to provide vital public services in a commonwealth where almost half the island lives below the poverty line.
November 17, 2021
Pasquines
The Struggles of Power in Puerto Rico
By William-Jose Velez
Battery-powered fans, voltage surge protectors in outlets, gasoline power plants. The struggles of Puerto Rico with its electric grid have been written about for years, but in recent months, the situation has worsened. Power outages have become a daily occurrence, one that has transformed lives for countless residents across the US territory, which recently transferred its electrical grid and distribution to American-Canadian consortium LUMA Energy. While the new company has only handled the distribution of power in the islands for a few months, locals have noticed a worsening situation—and they are tired. “LUMA has us crazy,” says William González González, 89, an Añasco resident, and my grandfather. “The other day they had us without power for 22 hours, it’s insane.” I’m in Puerto Rico for my youngest brother’s wedding and on the day of the rehearsal dinner the power goes out. My mother goes into a frenzy, she has a gasoline power plant, but it only lasts 6 hours, and she’s hosting our extended family later this evening. The timing for the outage couldn’t be worse for her. But the truth is we’re lucky, we have some backup—for others, the situation is far direr.
November 17, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
House Democrats expect to pass bill extending SSI to Puerto Rico this week
Steny Hoyer said debate on the legislation, which would increase Medicaid funding, could take place today
By Jose A. Delgado
The House Democratic leadership wants to begin floor debate on the budget reconciliation bill with President Joe Biden’s social agenda, including the extension of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to Puerto Rico and an increase in Medicaid funding today. Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer considered yesterday the vote on the House floor could take place no later than Saturday but did not rule out that it may happen between Thursday and Friday. To schedule the vote, the Democratic leadership is awaiting the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) analysis on the cost of the entire legislation, which the House estimated at $1.75 trillion.
November 17, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
Congressional Research Service also contradicted the White House on Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico
Since Obamacare law, Puerto Rico’s government health plan depends basically on that program’s appropriations
By Jose A. Delgado
Before the Comptroller General’s Office (GAO) report, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) had issued an opinion opposing the Joe Biden administration’s interpretation that Puerto Rico is guaranteed a $3 billion annual appropriation in Medicaid funds “in perpetuity.” According to a CRS memo dated November 2, a “literal reading” of the December 20, 2019, law - which mandated Medicaid funding for federal fiscal years 2020 and 2021 - indicates that, without a new statute, funding for Puerto Rico would fall back to the 2019 appropriations level, about $400 million annually. Under the law that was in effect on December 19, 2019, the Medicaid funding cap for the current federal fiscal year, 2022, would be about $400 million, rather than the $2.943 billion proposed by the U.S. Department of Health and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS).
November 17, 2021
Relief Web
FEMA Approves Over $142 Million for Schools Affected by Earthquakes
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allocated over $24.4 million during October and November to repair and reinforce various schools in the South and West regions of Puerto Rico that experienced structural damage caused by the 2020 earthquakes. To date, over $142 million has been obligated to the Puerto Rico Department of Education for 115 permanent work projects that address damage related to the tremors. Due to the amount of structural damage caused by the earthquakes, most of the allocated funds will be used for mitigation works such as installing supports and steel structural reinforcements to protect the buildings in case of a future seismic event.
November 16, 2021
AS News
Does Puerto Rico get social security benefits?
Despite being a US territory, the Caribbean island is treated as second-class, with its citizens denied the same rights as those in a true state.
By Oli Povey
The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments relating to how Social Security payments are controlled in Puerto Rico. It sounds academic, why would a place that has been a part of the United States for more than a hundred years have problems with benefits? In fact, the ruling is massively important, not just relating to those receiving benefits, but with how the US interacts with its "territories", that being areas controlled by the US that are not full states, for their joint future. It is part of a story of 500 years of colonialism, of laws constructed during the United States' worst past, and how a fully just and Democratic future can be the only solution for the concerns between the US and Puerto Rico.
November 16, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
The Congressional Investigative Service also contradicted the White House regarding the Medicaid appropriations for Puerto Rico
By Jose A. Delgado
The analysis of that legislative office maintains that the island's health system is guaranteed by permanent law about $400 million, not the $ 3 billion announced by the Joe Biden government.
November 16, 2021
The New York Times
There's fresh drama around funding Puerto Rico's Medicaid program
By Rachel Roubein
In late September, the Biden administration quietly made a decision with huge implications for Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program. Health officials interpreted language from recent laws to mean the federal government must give at least $2.9 billion per year to the island’s fragile safety net program. But the government’s watchdog says the administration is wrong. In a legal opinion yesterday, the Government Accountability Office wrote those payments shouldn’t have been allowed. But the determination is nonbinding, leaving federal health officials to decide whether to reverse course or ignore the agency's conclusion.
November 12, 2021
The Center for American Progress
Massive Safety Net Loopholes Hurt Poor Puerto Rican Residents
The federal safety net excludes Puerto Rican residents from normal benefits. The Build Back Better Act would change that in a major way.
By Nick Buffle
On November 9, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments as to whether residents of Puerto Rico are eligible to receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments. SSI is a federal program which aids low-income seniors and adults with disabilities, especially those with meager Social Security benefits. It also supports children with disabilities, thereby providing a crucial lifeline to three vulnerable groups. Residents of Puerto Rico are not denied all benefits. Rather, federal law often contains odd carveouts for people on the island. For example, until earlier this year, Puerto Rican families were only eligible for the child tax credit (CTC) if they had three or more children. Before 2021, a poor mainland family with two children could receive up to $2,800 of CTC benefits, while similar Puerto Rican families received nothing.
November 10, 2021
United Press International
Supreme Court Considers Whether Puerto Ricans can be denied Government Benefits
By Christina van Waasbergen
A dispute over $28,000 could have broad implications for the rights of Puerto Ricans and residents of other U.S. territories. The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday on whether the exclusion of Puerto Rico from the Supplemental Security Income program violates the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause. The SSI program provides monthly payments to low-income Americans 65 or over or who are blind or disabled who live in one of the 50 states, the District of Columbia or the Mariana Islands. In 2017, the federal government sued José Luis Vaello Madero, now 67, for repayment of $28,081 it claims he wrongly received as a resident of Puerto Rico.
November 10, 2021
Telemundo 31
Video Interview of Aurelis Aponte with Telemundo and clip from HF press conference.
November 10, 2021
El Nuevo Día
SSI: the federal Constitution validates colonialism
By Jorge Farinacci Fernós
For the fourth time in five years, the Supreme Court of the United States held an oral hearing to deal with a case related to Puerto Rico. In the three cases resolved so far, the Court relied on the territorial status of the island.
November 10, 2021
The St. Thomas Source for the U.S. Virgin Islands
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Federal Benefits for Territories
By Sian Cobb
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday on whether it is constitutional to deny Supplemental Security Income benefits to American citizens living in Puerto Rico, and by extension the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, under a decades-old decision by Congress. Representing the U.S. Justice Department, Deputy Solicitor General Curtis Gannon said the intent of the 1972 decision – creating SSI for the states and D.C. only — was to promote economic and political autonomy in Puerto Rico, and that because its residents don’t pay federal income and some other taxes, it can fund its own safety net programs. That leaves U.S. citizens of most American overseas territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, to rely on Aid to the Aged, Blind and Disabled, which in Puerto Rico delivers a benefit of about $58 a month versus $418 if its residents were eligible for SSI.
November 10, 2021
El Vocero
Before the Federal Supreme Court if the payment of Supplementary Social Security on the Island is appropriate
Joe Biden's reconstruction plan includes Puerto Rico having access to the program.
By Maricarmen Rivera Sanchez
The Supreme Court of the United States holds a hearing today in which they will discuss whether a person is entitled to continue receiving the Supplemental Social Security (SSI) benefit even if he lives in Puerto Rico. The case began when José Luis Vaello-Madero moved to the island from the United States and continued to collect his SSI. The federal government then tried to recover this money, arguing that, by moving to the island, it was no longer entitled to this benefit. That argument is the one that will be before the Supreme Court today. The issue is a matter of congressional discussion since President Joe Biden's reconstruction plan includes Puerto Rico having access to the SSI, a program that mainly benefits people with disabilities and limited resources.
November 9, 2021
BloombergLaw
Biden Disappoints Puerto Rico in Supreme Court Benefits Case
By Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson
“He really created some expectations for how his administration would treat those who live in Puerto Rico differently” from the way they were treated under the Trump administration, “and it’s very dismaying that he has continued the Trump administration’s actions” in continuing to press this case before the justices, said Laura Esquivel of the Hispanic Federation, which led the effort to urge the Biden administration to change course.
November 9, 2021
NBC News
Supreme Court seems divided over Puerto Rico's exclusion from federal benefits
By Nicole Acevedo
Justice Sonia Sotomayor questioned whether the federal government can “cherry-pick” what benefits U.S. citizens have access to based on where they live and the taxes they pay.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on a potential landmark case Tuesday looking into whether it’s constitutional to deny federal benefits to aging and disabled U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico, even though they can access them if they live on the mainland.
November 9, 2021
Agencia EFE
NGOs ask the U.S. Supreme Court to include Puerto Rico in the social benefit program
By Newsroom Infobae
Several organizations demanded this Tuesday that the Supreme Court of the United States benefit Puerto Rico from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, whose current exclusion is being evaluated by the court.
November 9, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
We arrived at the United States Supreme Court prior to the hearing on the access of residents in Puerto Rico to SSI
U.S. Supreme Court debates Vaello Madero case and treatment of territories like Puerto Rico
November 9, 2021
HF Statement
Hispanic Federation and Allies Want Supreme Court to End Discrimination in Federal Safety-Net Benefits for Puerto Rico
By Fernanda Durand
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to hear arguments on U.S. v. Vaello-Madero case today, a case that could decide whether Puerto Ricans living in Puerto Rico can receive the same benefits as other U.S. citizens, Hispanic Federation and its allies stood on the steps of the nation’s highest court to demand the federal government stop discriminating against U.S. citizens based on where they live, as part of the #TakeAction4PuertoRico campaign.
November 9, 2021
CNN
What is the disparity in federal benefits between living in Puerto Rico or the United States?
By Ione Molinares
The U.S. Supreme Court hears an important case about Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican citizens living on the island, despite also being U.S. citizens, do not receive the same federal benefits as those living on the mainland. Watch the following video with all the details.
November 9, 2021
New York Times
Supreme Court Looks at Puerto Rico’s Status in Case on Benefits
A federal law excludes residents of Puerto Rico from a Social Security program that provides monthly payments to needy people.
By Adam Liptak
The immediate question for the Supreme Court justices at an argument on Tuesday was whether Congress was free to exclude residents of Puerto Rico from a Social Security program that provides monthly cash payments to older, blind and disabled people who cannot support themselves.
Looming over that question was the larger issue of Puerto Rico’s status as a territory, not a state. Its residents are U.S. citizens but cannot vote in federal elections and generally do not pay federal income taxes. Much of the argument concerned the implications of those facts for treating recipients of Social Security benefits differently depending on where they live.
November 9, 2021
Agencia EFE
They ask the US Supreme Court to include Puerto Rico in the benefits program.
Several organizations demanded on Tuesday that the Supreme Court of the United States include Puerto Rico in the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, whose current exclusion is evaluated by the court. The court examines today at an oral hearing the controversy that SSI benefits are only available to citizens residing in its 50 states and in the Northern Mariana Islands, but not in other territories such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. "We have seen firsthand how the federal government discriminates to the highest level against Puerto Ricans despite being U.S. citizens," Frankie Miranda, president of the Hispanic Federation, said at a press conference in front of the Supreme Court in Washington.
November 9, 2021
El Nuevo Día
We arrived at the Supreme Court of the United States prior to the hearing on the access of residents of Puerto Rico to the SSI
The Supreme Court of the United States debates the Vaello Madero case and the treatment of territories as Puerto Rico.
November 9, 2021
Al Día
Supreme Court Considers Benefits for Disabled People in Puerto Rico
The Supreme Court analyzes the case of disabled persons seeking access to subsidies in the country.
By Erika Ardila
On Tuesday, Nov. 9, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed a challenge to a decision by Congress five decades ago to exclude Puerto Rico from a federal program that provides benefits to low-income elderly, blind and disabled people was illegal. The Court seeks to analyze whether Congress violated constitutional protections by excluding Puerto Rico residents from Supplemental Security Income (SSI), a monthly cash payment for low-income elderly, blind or disabled people in the country. "Needy is needy, whether it's in Puerto Rico or on the mainland, none of the people who receive it on the mainland pay taxes," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, whose parents were born in Puerto Rico. "None of the money is going or would go to Puerto Rico for self-government. I think restrictions have to be rational, and I'm not quite sure why one would say it's rational to treat one group of people, of citizens, differently than other citizens on the mainland when the need is the same."
November 9, 2021
Law 360
Gov't Argues Congress Can Deny Puerto Ricans SSI Benefits
By Carolina Bolado
The federal government on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a ruling extending Supplemental Security Income disability benefits to Puerto Rico residents. The government argued it is perfectly reasonable for Congress to treat the territory differently because residents there aren’t subject to as many federal taxes as other U.S. citizens. In oral arguments before the high court. Deputy Solicitor General Curtis Gannon said Congress has opted not to collect federal income tax and other taxes in Puerto Rico, which has left more tax revenue there and means there is a rational basis for denying residents of territories certain benefits.
November 9, 2021
NPR
Supreme Court preview: prayer during execution, Supplementary Security Income
Host Steve Inskeep
The Supreme Court hears a case this week about the American empire. The question is whether federal law applies equally to those parts of the United States that are not states. A man moved from New York state to Puerto Rico to care for his wife. He continued receiving disability benefits from the Social Security Administration, and then the federal government demanded the money back. Let's discuss this with Garrett Epps, who is legal affairs editor at the Washington Monthly and a professor of law at the University of Oregon.
November 9, 2021
News 4 Jax (Florida)
Court seems reluctant to sweep Puerto Rico into SSI program
By Mark Sherman
The Supreme Court appeared reluctant Tuesday to rule for a resident of Puerto Rico who claims it's unconstitutional to be excluded from a welfare program that's available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The justices acknowledged that the differential treatment of Puerto Ricans might be problematic, but several suggested that it is up to Congress, not the courts, to act. Justice Brett Kavanaugh said there are “compelling policy arguments” for including Puerto Rico in the Supplemental Security Income program, which provides benefits to older, disabled and blind Americans. But Kavanaugh said the court had to confront a provision of the Constitution that allows Congress to treat territories and states differently. The Caribbean island has been a U.S. territory since the Spanish American War in 1898.
November 9, 2021
Bloomberg Law
Justices Consider Extending Benefits to Needy Puerto Ricans
By Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson
The justices struggled to decide if Congress can distinguish between Puerto Rico and the 50 states when deciding whether to extend certain Social Security benefits intended to protect the disabled and elderly. Justice Department lawyer Curtis Gannon on Tuesday defended the Congressional exclusion of Puerto Rico from Supplemental Security Income, despite extending those benefits to other U.S. territories, because of the enormous cost of including the island in the program—about $2 billion per year. In particular, Gannon said because Puerto Rican residents don’t pay federal income tax, the U.S. takes “a smaller tax bite” out of Puerto Rico, “which leaves Puerto Rico greater leeway” to “deal with this problem in its own fashion.”
November 9, 2021
Agencia EFE
NGO ask the U.S. Supreme Court to include Puerto Rico in the social benefit program
Several organizations demanded on Tuesday that the Supreme Court of the United States benefit Puerto Rico from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, whose current exclusion is evaluated by the court. The SSI is a federal program that provides additional Social Security benefits for people who are blind, with special needs or over 65 who meet certain economic limits.
November 9, 2021
Street Insider (Wall Street Journal) from Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court wrestles with Puerto Rico's exclusion from benefits program
By Lawrence Hurley
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday tackled the question of whether a decision by Congress five decades ago to exclude Puerto Rico from a federal program that provides benefits to low-income elderly, blind and disabled people was unlawful. Some of the nine justices posed tough questions during arguments in the case to the lawyer for the U.S. government, which has appealed a lower court ruling that Puerto Rico's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program exclusion violated a U.S. Constitution mandate that laws apply equally to everyone.
November 9, 2021
The St. Thomas Source for the U.S. Virgin Islands
Virgin Islanders Speak Out Ahead of Supreme Court Hearing on SSI
By Sian Cobb
It frustrates Kavita Daswani that more help is not forthcoming for Virgin Islanders, based simply on where they live. “We’re part of the U.S. We should get all these services. That’s a necessity and basic humanity,” she said. On Tuesday, that very issue will go before the U.S. Supreme Court when it hears oral arguments in the case of United States v. Vaello-Madero. The U.S. Justice Department sued José Luis Vaello-Madero in 2017 to recover $28,081 in SSI benefits it said he continued to receive illegally when he relocated from New York State back home to Puerto Rico in 2013 to be closer to family.
November 9, 2021
CNN
What is the disparity in federal benefits between living in Puerto Rico vs the US?
The U.S. Supreme Court hears an important case about Puerto Rico. Puerto Rican citizens living on the island, despite also being U.S. citizens, do not receive the same federal benefits as those living on the mainland. Watch the following video with all the details.
November 9, 2021
El Nuevo Día
SSI: triumphant walk of the Territorial Clause by the Federal Supreme Court
By Leo Aldridge
The validity and vigor of the Territorial Clause that keeps Puerto Rico as a colony of the United States had a triumphant walk once again before the federal Supreme Court during the arguments this morning of the case in which federal benefits of Supplementary Social Security or SSI are claimed to be extended to the island.
El Nuevo Dia
November 9, 2021
Wall Street Journal
Supreme Court Weighs Legality of Federal Benefits Denied to Low-Income Puerto Ricans
Justices consider whether Congress can exclude territory from U.S. program for the poor and disabled
By Brent Kendall and Jess Bravin
The Supreme Court grappled Tuesday with whether the Constitution lets Congress deny certain benefits for the poor and disabled to residents of Puerto Rico, support that is routinely given to citizens living within the U.S. 50 states. The case centered on the Supplemental Security Income program, administered by the Social Security Administration, which provides assistance to low-income Americans who are older than 65 years, blind or disabled. Congress created the program in 1972 and it initially applied to residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Lawmakers later extended the program to the Northern Mariana Islands but not to Puerto Rico or other U.S. territories.
November 9, 2021
Salt Wire
U.S. Supreme Court wrestles with Puerto Rico's exclusion from benefits program
By Lawrence Hurley
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday tackled the question of whether a decision by Congress five decades ago to exclude Puerto Rico from a federal program that provides benefits to low-income elderly, blind and disabled people was unlawful. Some of the nine justices posed tough questions during arguments in the case to the lawyer for the U.S. government, which has appealed a lower court ruling that Puerto Rico's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program exclusion violated a U.S. Constitution mandate that laws apply equally to everyone.
November 9, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
The controversy over the SSI generated a wide debate in the Supreme Court about the treatment of Puerto Rico
Judge Sonia Sotomayor took the lead in the debate on the Vaello Madero case, although the decision will be in the hands of the conservative majority.
By Jose A. Delgado
When analyzing the Vaello Madero case at a hearing, the members of the Supreme Court of the United States entered today, Tuesday, into a comprehensive discussion about the treatment that Congress gives to their territories and its power to decide Puerto Rico's access to federal programs. Several of the judges showed reluctance to equalize the treatment of residents of a state to that of a territory. Others, especially the most conservative, seemed to have an inclination to limit the framework of analysis to the power of the territory clause of the US Constitution.
November 9, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
The Supreme Court of the United States debates the Vaello Madero case and the treatment of territories such as Puerto Rico
By Jose A. Delgado
For the second time in two years, the Supreme Court of the United States is examining today, Tuesday, in an oral hearing a constitutional controversy that wraps up the debate on the territorial or colonial status of Puerto Rico. This time, in the United States vs. José Luis Vaello Madero case, the nine judges will hear arguments for and against the constitutionality of excluding Puerto Rico residents from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, which offers benefits to residents of the 50 states, Washington D. C. and the Northern Mariana Islands.
November 9, 2021
Reuters
U.S. Supreme Court Wrestles with Puerto Rico’s Exclusion from Benefits Program
By Lawrence Hurley
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday tackled the question of whether a decision by Congress five decades ago to exclude Puerto Rico from a federal program that provides benefits to low-income elderly, blind and disabled people was unlawful. Some of the nine justices posed tough questions during arguments in the case to the lawyer for the U.S. government, which has appealed a lower court ruling that Puerto Rico's Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program exclusion violated a U.S. Constitution mandate that laws apply equally to everyone.
November 9, 2021
SCOTUSblog
In equal-protection challenge, court will review Puerto Rico’s exclusion from federal safety-net program
By James Romoser
Jose Luis Vaello-Madero is an American citizen who was born in Puerto Rico. While living in New York in 2012, he became seriously ill and was unable to work, so he began receiving Supplemental Security Income, a federal welfare program for people who cannot support themselves. But when he moved back to Puerto Rico to be closer to his family, Vaello-Madero lost his SSI benefits because, by law, Puerto Rico residents are excluded from the program. For most of that history, courts raised few constitutional concerns about the disparities. Vaello-Madero and his supporters want the justices to transform that legal landscape by striking down the SSI exclusion — and to do so by applying a heightened constitutional test.
November 9, 2021
Independent
Court Seems Reluctant to Sweep Puerto Rico into SSI Program
The Supreme Court appears reluctant to rule for a resident of Puerto Rico who claims it’s unconstitutional to be excluded from a welfare program that’s available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia
The Supreme Court appeared reluctant Tuesday to rule for a resident of Puerto Rico who claims it's unconstitutional to be excluded from a welfare program that's available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia
November 8, 2021
ABC 7 Denver
Supreme Court to hear case that could expand rights of Puerto Rico citizens
United States v. Vaello-Madero will be heard Tuesday
By Joe St. George
It's clear the country won’t be adding any more stars to the American flag any time soon. Efforts to make Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico official states have stalled in Congress.
November 8, 2021
ABC 7 Denver
Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could Expand Rights of Puerto Rico Citizens
By Joe St. George
It's clear the country won’t be adding any more stars to the American flag any time soon. Efforts to make Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico official states have stalled in Congress. However, while D.C. citizens still have access to many government programs that citizens of all the 50 states enjoy, Puerto Rico citizens are ineligible for many. Take, for instance, Supplemental Security Income, SSI. It’s a program that helps Americans with illnesses or disabilities get by. Those who live in D.C. qualify for it, but those who live in Puerto Rico do not, even though people in both places pay federal taxes. Why? When Congress passed SSI decades ago, they didn’t include residents of the island.
November 8, 2021
Press Herald
Supreme Court to Weigh How Congress Treats Puerto Rico
By Todd Ruger
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments Tuesday about how Congress denies residents of Puerto Rico certain Social Security benefits, in a case that could shift the unusual and contentious relationship between Congress and the island territory the U.S. acquired more than a century ago. The case centers on one man with severe health problems, Jose Luis Vaello-Madero, who moved from New York to Puerto Rico in 2013 and thereby lost eligibility for the benefits. A provision from a 1972 law provides Supplemental Security Income for aged, blind and disabled individuals, but not in Puerto Rico and most other U.S. territories.
November 8, 2021
News 6 Richmond
Supreme Court to Hear Case That Could Expand Rights of Puerto Rico Citizens
United States v. Vaello-Madero will be heard Tuesday
By Joe St. George
It's clear the country won’t be adding any more stars to the American flag any time soon. Efforts to make Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico official states have stalled in Congress. However, while D.C. citizens still have access to many government programs that citizens of all the 50 states enjoy, Puerto Rico citizens are ineligible for many. Take, for instance, Supplemental Security Income, SSI. It’s a program that helps Americans with illnesses or disabilities get by. Those who live in D.C. qualify for it, but those who live in Puerto Rico do not, even though people in both places pay federal taxes. Why? When Congress passed SSI decades ago, they didn’t include residents of the island.
November 8, 2021
The Hill
Congress Can’t Discriminate Against Puerto Rico Residents Just because They Live There
By Adriel I. Cepeda Derieux
In 2012, José Vaello-Madero, a U.S. citizen born in Puerto Rico but living in New York, applied for and received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits because severe health problems left him unable to support himself. A year later, he moved to Puerto Rico to rejoin his family and care for his ailing wife. He continued to receive SSI benefits, unaware that federal law excludes Puerto Rico residents from the program, simply because they live in a U.S. territory rather than a state. In 2016, the federal government sued Vaello-Madero to collect over $28,000 it claimed it “overpaid.” On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear his case in United States v Vaello-Madero, a case that could help put an end to unconstitutional discrimination against residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories.
November 8, 2021
El Nuevo Día
Zero Hour for SSI Case
By José A. Delgado
The controversy over Puerto Rico residents’ access to SSI goes to a U.S. Supreme Court oral hearing while Congress is also addressing the case
The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court will head tomorrow an oral hearing that may bring a clue on whether there is atmosphere to grant, through judicial channels, the extension of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to Puerto Rico or whether they will leave the matter in the hands of Congress.
November 8, 2021
Roll Call
Supreme Court to weight how Congress treats Puerto Rico
Justices will hear that fewer benefits to Puerto Rico residents stems from a ‘quagmire of racial and ethnic discrimination’
By Todd Ruger
The Supreme Court hears oral arguments Tuesday about how Congress denies residents of Puerto Rico certain Social Security benefits, in a case that could shift the unusual and contentious relationship between Congress and the island territory the U.S. acquired more than a century ago.
November 8, 2021
The Hill
In SSI case, Supreme Court should extend a lifeline to Puerto Rico
By Congressman and CHC Chair Raul Reyes
Leading advocacy and Latino organizations like the American Bar Association, Hispanic Federation, and LatinoJustice PRLDEF support Vaello-Madero's position, as does the territory’s Republican congressional representative. Guess who else thinks denying SSI benefits to Puerto Rico is a bad idea: Joe Biden, whose Justice Department is pursuing the case against Vaello-Madero. “I believe that Puerto Rico residents should be able to receive SSI benefits,” the president said in a June statement, calling the current exclusion of Puerto Rico from the program “inconsistent with my administration's policies and values.”
November 8, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
SSI: don’t deny my baby and other Puerto Ricans vital help
By Aurelis Aponte
Isabella came into the world fighting for her life and continues to do so day after day. She was born in 2017, with seven heart conditions and according to the doctors, it is likely that in the future my little girl will require a heart transplant. In the first 21 days of her life, she underwent heart surgery. After three months of taking care of my Isabella I lost my job.
November 8, 2021
NBC News
Family who lost federal benefits for living in Puerto Rico looks to Supreme Court
The Supreme Court could “right this historic wrong,” says a policy advocate, while the mother of a girl with a heart condition says “the injustice is causing me so much pain.”
By Nicole Acevedo
According to Laura Esquivel, vice president of federal policy at the advocacy organization Hispanic Federation, Vaello-Madero’s case is the first of a series of lawsuits dealing with federal benefit disparities across U.S. territories to make it to the Supreme Court. “This is an opportunity for the Supreme Court to finally right this historic wrong with a new legal precedent that makes it clear that unjustly denying any American their full rights is unconstitutional and indefensible,” Esquivel said.
November 7, 2021
El Nuevo Día
Supreme Court of the United States will hold a hearing on the access of residents in Puerto Rico to SSI
The controversy goes to an oral hearing, at a time when the matter is also before the federal Congress
By Jose A. Delgado
Washington D.C. - The nine judges of the United States Supreme Court will lead an oral hearing on Tuesday that may give glimpses of whether there is an environment to grant, through the courts, the extension to Puerto Rico of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program or if they will stop the matter in the hands of Congress. The session, which is scheduled for Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. And that will last one hour, it will take place just at a time when the Democratic majority in Congress is processing Puerto Rico's access to SSI - a program that benefits adults and children with functional diversity and people over 65 who meet certain economic limits - and seeks to improve Medicaid allocations.
November 5, 2021
Vox
The surprisingly high stakes in a Supreme Court case about $28,000
The Court takes up a difficult case about colonialism and democracy.
United States v. Vaello-Madero is a case about an impoverished American citizen, forced to repay a debt to the federal government that he only learned about fairly recently and that he cannot possibly afford.
It is also a case about colonialism and the legacy of the US government’s discriminatory treatment of Puerto Rico. And it is a case about the ways American democracy functions, and whether insulating that democracy from an ideological judiciary is worth allowing callous laws to remain in place.
November 5, 2021
Manhattan Times
“Leave no American behind”
“No abandonar a ningún estadounidense”
New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Hispanic Federation are calling on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Biden administration to drop their appeal in the case U.S. v Vaello-Madero, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, which would determine the status of assistance and federal programs to U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico.
November 4, 2021
NY General Attorney’s Office
Attorney General James, Hispanic Federation Call on DOJ to Protect Rights of U.S. Citizens in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN – New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Hispanic Federation today called on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Biden-Harris Administration to stop denying life-saving assistance and federal programs to U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico, and drop their appeal in the case U.S. v Vaello-Madero, now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
November 4, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
Hispanic Federation and 60 other groups ask Joe Biden to withdraw the challenge of Puerto Rico's access to SSI
By Jose Delgado
In a statement, the Hispanic Federation highlighted that the Federal First Circuit of Appeals determined that it is “irrational and arbitrary”, for violating the equal protection of the laws under the United States Constitution, the exclusion of the residents of the Island from the SSI.
November 4, 2021
HF Statement
Attorney General Letitia James, Hispanic Federation Call on DOJ to Protect the Rights of U.S. Citizens in Puerto Rico
By Tere Miranda
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO — New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Hispanic Federation today called on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Biden-Harris Administration to stop denying life-saving assistance and federal programs to U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico, and drop their appeal in the case U.S. vs. Vaello-Madero, now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
November 4, 2021
New York Attorney General’s Office
Attorney General James, Hispanic Federation Call on DOJ to Protect Rights of U.S. Citizens in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN – New York Attorney General Letitia James and the Hispanic Federation today called on the U.S. Department of Justice and the Biden-Harris Administration to stop denying life-saving assistance and federal programs to U.S. citizens who live in Puerto Rico, and drop their appeal in the case U.S. v Vaello-Madero, now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
November 4, 2021
Metro PR
New York Attorney General asked the US Department of Justice to stop denying federal programs to Puerto Ricans
By Metro Puerto Rico
"While we recognize the important efforts of the Biden Administration to include the SSI for Puerto Rico in the "Build Back Better" legislation proposal, we cannot continue to leave the rights of Puerto Ricans to the whims of Congress," said Frankie Miranda, President & CEO of the Hispanic Federation. Miranda met with President Biden at the White House last August and asked him to desist from his defense of the case. According to Miranda, "This unjust discrimination against Puerto Rico in SSI and other federal programs is rooted in blatantly racist Supreme Court precedents determined more than a century ago. The opportunity is now for President Biden and the Supreme Court to finally correct this error with a new legal precedent that makes it clear that unfairly denying any American citizen their full rights is unconstitutional and indefensible."
November 3, 2021
The Hill
The end of hurricane season is not the end of climate disaster season
By Alice Liu
As climate change makes weather patterns increasingly unpredictable, disasters will no longer be contained to specific parts of the year, or specific parts of the country. From Winter Storm Uri in Texas to this summer’s deadly heatwaves in Oregon, climate disasters are now a national and year-round concern. So even as Nov. 1 marked the end of this year’s hurricane season and the UN climate summit COP26 proceeds, communities working on disaster recovery, resilience and preparation understand there is no time to rest.
November 3, 2021
The Weekly Journal
Access to Supplemental Security Income is Positive for Local Economy
Would reduce the high poverty rate on the island
By Maricarmen Rivera Sánchez
The possibility of Puerto Rico having access to Supplementary Security Income (SSI) benefits, as of 2024, is positive for the island’s economy and would help reduce the number of people who are living in poverty.
According to economist José Caraballo Cueto, the SSI program will help the neediest sectors. “It seems to me that it is good news because the SSI would reduce the poverty rate in Puerto Rico by seven percentage points,” he said.
October 27, 2021
The Weekly Journal
LUMA Energy Authorized for 38 Projects Costing $652.58 Million
IEEFA calls on Biden to focus on renewables for Puerto Rico
By Zoe Landi Fontana
As part of efforts to improve the island’s electricity system, the president of the Puerto Rico Energy Bureau (PREB), Edison Avilés Deliz, announced the authorization of 38 new projects by LUMA Energy.
October 25, 2021
Inside Climate News
Plagued by Daily Blackouts, Puerto Ricans Are Calling for an Energy Revolutions. Will the Biden Administration Listen?
Many residents say a record amount of incoming federal aid provides a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transition the island to clean energy. So far, the funds are mostly going to natural gas.
By Kristoffer Tigue
Eddie Ramirez has never understood why this government doesn’t more aggressively pursue renewable energy.
October 22, 2021
El Nuevo Dia
LUMA informs Congress that its six top managers receive compensation of more than $200,000 per year
In the case of its president Wayne Stensby, the salary exceeds $500,000.
By Jose Delgado
October 21, 2021
El Nuevo Día
LUMA Energy official is appointed to the advisory committee of the United States Department of Energy
By El Nuevo Día Team
The Secretary of Energy of the United States, Jennifer Granholm, included the head of regulatory affairs of LUMA Energy, Mario Hurtado, in her Electricity Advisory Committee, of which 38 people are part. The committee assists the Department of Energy, through the Undersecretary of Electricity, on issues of reliability, safety, resilience and other Public Policy objectives. The members of the committee are usually representatives of the energy industry and public officials. Last month, the coordinator for Puerto Rico of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), José Baquero, indicated that FEMA and the United States Department of Energy will initiate a study on the path that the Island must follow to meet the objectives of having an electricity system fully dependent on renewable energy sources, by 2050.
October 21, 2021
El Nuevo Día
Equally American Consults Territory Residents on SSI
By El Nuevo Día Team
Equally American develops an informative survey to hear about residents of the territories who would have access to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program if they resided in the states of the United States or its capital. Equally American proposes to also contact people who reside in the United States and would move to the territories if it were not for the fact that they would lose the benefits of the SSI. Neil Weare, executive director of Equally American, indicated that they are holding the consultation ahead of the oral hearing on November 9 in which the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States will examine the Vaello Madero case on the exclusion of Puerto Rican residents from the SSI.
October 21, 2021
NBC News
Who's to blame for Puerto Rico's power crisis? It's complicated, a report shows
"Coordination failures" and the complex relationship between the two entities in charge of providing power are at the heart of the problem, a nonpartisan analysis found.
By Nicole Acevedo
Ongoing power outages in Puerto Rico constantly remind residents that essential work to modernize their antiquated and unreliable electric grid, which was also decimated by Hurricane Maria in 2017, has not yet begun. But officials hoped the partial privatization of the power grid, which started this summer, would help resolve the U.S. territory's power supply crisis. Instead, Puerto Ricans like Brenda Otero, who owns a baking business in San Juan, have endured a growing number of rolling blackouts and unstable service.
October 20, 2021
Workers World
Protests Demand LUMA Out
By Betsey Piette
Activists protesting the privatization of Puerto Rico’s electric utility company and the devastating power outages affecting the island’s most vulnerable communities, rallied at Fairhill Square Park in Philadelphia’s Puerto Rican community Oct. 15. The event was called by Philly Boricuas. The protest was in solidarity with thousands of workers demonstrating at the same time in Puerto Rico to demand the ouster of Luma Energy, which privatized their energy system June 1. The company was given a 15-year contract to manage power distribution by Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority, PREPA. The recurring blackouts leave people sweltering in the heat without fans for prolonged periods. Food is rotting from lack of refrigeration. Voltage fluctuations are damaging computers and appliances. The protesters called on Luma to pay for their losses.
October 20, 2021
WFUV
Understanding Poverty in Puerto Rico
By Robin Shannon
The U.S. territory of Puerto Rico is recovering from multiple disasters, battling back from the COVID pandemic all while people on the island are struggling with poverty and food insecurity. Fordham Conversations “We the People” host Robin Shannon sits down with Dr. Gregory Acevedo, Associate Professor in Fordham University's Graduate School of Social service. He explains what led up to the challenges in Puerto Rico and why he believes Puerto Rico’s crisis is America’s crisis.
October 20, 2021
ABC News
How did Puerto Rico’s electric system become so chaotic? Experts weigh in
By Cristina Corujo
"Luma out" and "If I can't breathe, Luma shouldn't charge us," read some of the banners held by hundreds of Puerto Rico's residents as they marched on a main highway Friday in protest against Luma Energy, the island's power company. Puerto Rico has had a long history of instability with its electric system, even prior to the devastation Hurricane Maria wreaked in 2017, which left millions on the island without power for nearly a year.
October 20, 2021
Energy Storage News
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority readying renewables and energy storage Request for Proposals
By Andy Colthorpe
Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has sought approval for the launch of its next Request for Proposals (RfP) for renewable energy and energy storage resources. It’s the second tranche of RfPs that PREPA intends to issue this year, after Tranche 1 was issued in February, seeking 1GW of renewables capacity and 500MW / 2,000MWh of energy storage. Tranche 2 would cover the procurement of at least 500MW of renewable generation capacity and at least 250MW of energy storage capacity with four-hours duration (1,000MWh). PREPA is planning to present six tranches of procurement in total over three years, in line with its integrated resource plan (IRP), with a cumulative total of 3,750MW of renewables and 1,500MW of energy storage sought.
October 20, 2021
Yale Climate Connections
Nonprofit Barrio Electrico Works to Expand Solar Energy in Puerto Rico
By Yale Climate Connections Team
Alison Mason co-founded Barrio Eléctrico, a nonprofit that works with community groups to recruit residents who want to install solar and battery systems.
Barrio Eléctrico and its partners oversee the financing and installation of the systems, and then lease them to residents. Mason says the leases cost roughly the same as what people pay the utility, so they’re accessible to residents who cannot afford to buy solar panels.
Barrio Eléctrico is working to prove its model with a 10-home pilot program in Caguas.
October 19, 2021
The Hill
Equilibrium/Sustainability—Presented by Southern Company—Amid Failing power grid, Puerto Ricans go DIY
By Sharon Udasin and Saul Elbein
The lack of reliable power is sparking a political crisis on the island territory of Puerto Rico, where years of neglect, a string of severe hurricanes and a shaky takeover by a private contractor have resulted in the most expensive and unreliable electricity in the U.S., according to the New York Times.
October 19, 2021
New York Times
‘Why Don’t We Have Electricity?’: Outages Plague Puerto Rico
Transferring the power grid to a private company was supposed to help. But thousands protested last week over more blackouts.
By Patricia Mazzei
AGUADILLA, P.R.— Four years after Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico’s electrical grid a shambles and the entire island in the dark, residents had expected their fragile power system to be stronger now. Instead, unreliable electricity remains frustratingly common, hindering economic development and daily life.
October 18, 2021
Slate
Biden Made a Promise to End Discrimination Against Puerto Ricans. He’s About to Break It.
Territorial residents can’t protect themselves through the political process. The Supreme Court should take note.
By Neil Weare
The 3.5 million U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico and other territories do not get as much support from the federal government as citizens living elsewhere in the United States. That’s no surprise: After all, they cannot vote for president, lack any voting representation in Congress, and have no real autonomy. As a result, they get short-changed in a range of federal programs other communities in the United States take for granted, like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to the tune of billions of dollars a year. These inequalities—which are grounded in an uncomfortable history of systemic racism towards residents of the territories—will come to head over the next month as all three branches of the federal government are presented with the opportunity to bring this second-class treatment to an end.
October 18, 2021
The Guardian
‘We want sun’: the battle for solar power in Puerto Rico
Many people suffered following power cuts in the aftermath of two hurricanes, but advocates say solar power will withstand future disasters
Rosalina Marrero spends the best part of each day ironing and watching telenovelas at her modest bungalow in Puerto Rico’s coastal Guayama province. When it gets too hot or her asthma plays up due to the toxic coal ash from the nearby power plant, the 78-year-old widow rests on an adjustable hospital bed, clicks on the fan and thanks God for the solar panels on her roof.
October 16, 2021
NBC News
Thousands of outraged Puerto Ricans protest power outages, block main highway traffic
“We’re tired of coming home and discovering that we have no lights,” said Mayra Rivera, 55, who attended the march.
From the Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — More than 4,000 people outraged over ongoing power outages in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico marched Friday to decry how the lack of electricity has affected their health, work and children’s schooling.
October 16, 2021
The Washington Post
Thousands march in Puerto Rico, outraged over power outages
By Danica Coto
More than 4,000 people outraged over ongoing power outages in the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico marched Friday to decry how the lack of electricity has affected their health, work and children’s schooling.
Many of them demanded the ouster of Luma, a private company that took over the island’s transmission and distribution of power on June 1. Some also are angry at Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority, which owns and operates generation units that have been breaking down in recent weeks largely due to a lack of maintenance and repair.
October 13, 2021
NBC News
As Puerto Rico's power crisis worsens, lawmakers probing outages seek answers
Officials say the crisis of "the worst performing electricity system in the United States" will be resolved soon, but members of Congress and people on the island remain skeptical.
By Nicole Acevedo and Gabe Gutierrez
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Rico residents have experienced widespread blackouts, longer service restoration times, poor customer service and voltage fluctuations that often damage appliances and other home electronics since Luma Energy partly took over the island's electric grid in the summer.
October 12, 2021
Utility Dive
House Lawmakers Demand Answers from LUMA Energy Regarding Puerto Rico's Failing Electric Grid
By Robert Walton
House Democrats in a Friday letter asked the head of Puerto Rico's electric utility, LUMA Energy, for additional details on staffing levels, expenditures, executive compensation and a stretch of power outages that have occurred since the company took over grid operations from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) this summer.
October 12, 2021
NBC News/Today Show
Puerto Rico’s Power Grid is in a State of Emergency
By Gabe Gutierrez
A state of emergency has been declared in Puerto Rico after a wave of blackouts that have impacted hundreds of thousands of people in recent weeks. Officials say the island’s aging power plants have reached critical condition. NBC’s Gabe Gutierrez reports for TODAY from San Juan.
October 10, 2021
NPR
Puerto Rico Declares an Emergency Over the Dire Condition of its Power Supply
By Lulu Garcia-Navarro
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Dánica Coto, a reporter with The Associated Press, about the chronic power outages in Puerto Rico. The outages have been attributed to mechanical failures.
October 9, 2021
Fast Company
Puerto Rico could rebuild its power grid with renewables, but FEMA plans to fund fossil fuels
FEMA has allocated $9.4 billion for rebuilding Puerto Rico’s electricity system after Hurricane Maria. The proposed plan would build new natural gas-fired power plants.
By Patrick Parenteau and Rachel Stevens
The Biden Administration has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help Puerto Rico transition to a greener and more resilient energy future, but it’s on the verge of making a multibillion-dollar mistake.
Since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, many residents and environmental advocates have called for new clean-energy sources for the island. Currently, Puerto Rico gets more than 97% of its electricity from imported fossil fuel. Power is expensive and unreliable.
October 8, 2021
The Hill
House Democrats Demand Information From Puerto Rican Power Company Following Outages
By Lexi Lonas
House Democrats are demanding the Puerto Rican power company that took over the island’s grid release information following outages that affected hundreds of thousands of individuals. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), chair of the Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), chair of its subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, sent a letter to the president of LUMA Energy on Friday demanding the company turn over multiple documents by Oct. 22. The committee is currently investigating Puerto Rico turning over its power grid to LUMA from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.
October 8, 2021
AP News
US Legislators Probing Puerto Rico Power Outages Demand Data
By Dánica Coto
A U.S. House committee on Friday demanded that the company in charge of the transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico release key data amid widespread outages in the U.S. territory that have outraged and frustrated many. The Committee on Natural Resources ordered Luma to submit by Oct. 22 information including the number of maintenance workers it employs, the estimated amount of time one generation unit will be inoperable and the compensation packages and titles of employees who earn more than $200,000 a year.
October 7, 2021
NBC News
Puerto Rico declares state of emergency over power grid's ‘critical condition’
“Now we’re in a state of urgent implementation and we must execute," Fernando Gil-Enseñat, Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority 's board president, told reporters Friday.
By Nicole Acevedo
Puerto Rico has declared a state of emergency due to the "critical condition" of its generating power plants.
The governing board of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority voted in favor of the declaration on Friday, Fernando Gil-Enseñat, the board's president, told reporters on Friday.
October 6, 2021
House Committee on Natural Resources
Full Committee Hearing: PREPA Post Implementation of the LUMA Transmission and Distribution Contract
On Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. (EDT), the Committee on Natural Resources Office of Insular Affairs will hold a remote Full Committee Oversight Hearing titled, “PREPA Post Implementation of the LUMA Transmission and Distribution Contract.” This hearing will take place via Cisco WebEx and will be streamed on YouTube. For additional hearing materials and schedules, please visit the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee Repository at http://docs.house.gov/.
October 5, 2021
Earth Island Journal
Puerto Rico Has a Once-in-a-Lifetime Chance to Build a Clean Energy Grid
But FEMA plans to spend $9.4 billion on fossil fuel infrastructure instead, counter to White House's climate policy.
By Patrick Parenteau and Rachael Stevens
The Biden Administration has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help Puerto Rico transition to a greener and more resilient energy future, but it’s on the verge of making a multibillion-dollar mistake.
Since Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, many residents and environmental advocates have called for new clean energy sources for the island. Currently Puerto Rico gets more than 97 percent of its electricity from imported fossil fuel. Power is expensive and unreliable.
October 3, 2021
El Nuevo Día
We are not in the same boat, let's humanize the energy
By Jonathan Castillo Polanco
Access to energy is a matter of life and death. We witnessed that in the months after Hurricane Maria. Despite this, every day I see more and more how the issue of energy is treated in an inhumane, insensitive way and with zero empathy with the communities who at the end of the day are the most affected. Once again I see the need to present the concept of kilowatt-life, which among other things seeks to humanize energy , this being an essential need for all people in Puerto Rico and we have not had it covered.
October 2, 2021
Latino Rebels
Protests Against LUMA Energy and Power Outages Continue in Puerto Rico
By Carlos Edill Berríos Polanco
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Fed up with rolling blackouts and the rising price of electricity, Puerto Ricans continue to hit the streets in protest against the Puerto Rican government’s contract with LUMA Energy, while calling for the resignation of Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and the end of the Financial Oversight and Management Board of Puerto Rico (FOMBPR).
October 1, 2021
Miami Herald
Puerto Ricans protest after days of power outages the government blames on seaweed
By Syra Ortiz-Blanes
Hundreds of Puerto Ricans gathered outside of the governor’s mansion in San Juan on Friday afternoon to protest against LUMA Energy, the struggling energy grid’s private operator, following a wave of electrical blackouts that affected thousands of customers across the island this week. The gathering took place on Calle Fortaleza, where protests against former Gov. Ricky Rosselló in 2019 led to his ousting and where Puerto Ricans often congregate to express grievances against the island’s government. The street is dubbed “Calle de la Resistencia” — the street of the resistance.
September 29, 2021
Palabra (NAHJ Blog)
Big Media's Big Fail over U.S. colonialism
At a time when we are naming systems of oppression, why are some journalists avoiding the word colonialism?
By Erica González Martínez
The slaughter of Mexican Americans in El Paso, Texas, the murder of George Floyd, the wave of anti-Asian violence, and the January 6 violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by throngs of mostly white men have forced many U.S. institutions to grapple with a form of white supremacy that permeates this nation. This introspection has included an examination of the media. In an age of inescapable social media scrutiny, newsrooms are being held accountable for racism within and being pressured to dismantle the white-centered gaze that has dominated many narratives.
September 29, 2021
By blackouts: Government recommends making small purchases to PAN participants
The expressions were made by the administrator of ADSEF, Alberto Fradera
Amid the selective blackouts, which have become the norm for thousands of Puerto Ricans, the administrator of the Family Socioeconomic Development Administration (ADSEF), Alberto Fradera, said he is monitoring the situation in case help has to be requested from the federal government for reimbursement for the loss of food for the beneficiaries of the Family card.
September 28, 2021
Metro Puerto Rico
Due to blackouts: Government recommends making small purchases to PAN participants
In the midst of the selective blackouts, which have become the norm for thousands of Puerto Ricans, the administrator of the Administration of Socioeconomic Development of the Family (ADSEF), Alberto Fradera, indicated that he is monitoring the situation in case they have to request help from the Government federal for reimbursement for the loss of food of the beneficiaries of the Family card.
September 28, 2021
The Washington Post
The curious case of Puerto Rico's Medicaid funding
It was a familiar story: Puerto Rico was barreling toward a Medicaid funding cliff that it’d go over on Sept. 30. Congress was racing to prevent the fragile safety net program from losing hundreds of millions of dollars.
But suddenly — and unexpectedly — part of the crisis was averted. Quietly, the Biden administration interpreted language from recent laws providing dollars for the territories’ Medicaid programs.
September 28, 2021
News Americas
SSI Denied To Puerto Ricans Up For Supreme Court Hearing
By Lawrence Hurley
TOA ALTA, Puerto Rico, Sept. 28, 2021 (Reuters) – Emanuel Rivera Fuentes, severely disabled since birth and lying in bed at the home he shares with his parents in Puerto Rico, recites a list of 14 medications he must take daily for medical conditions including cerebral palsy.
The drugs represent just one aspect of the care he requires, a burden that largely falls upon his parents, Abraham Rivera Berrios and Gladys Fuentes Lozada, who adopted him when he was a baby given just weeks to live.
September 28, 2021
Reuters
In the shadow of U.S. Supreme Court history, a Puerto Rican family struggles
By Lawrence Hurley
TOA ALTA, Puerto Rico, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Emanuel Rivera Fuentes, severely disabled since birth and lying in bed at the home he shares with his parents in Puerto Rico, recites a list of 14 medications he must take daily for medical conditions including cerebral palsy.
The drugs represent just one aspect of the care he requires, a burden that largely falls upon his parents, Abraham Rivera Berrios and Gladys Fuentes Lozada, who adopted him when he was a baby given just weeks to live.
September 22, 2021
Orlando Sentinel
Four years after Maria, Puerto Rico’s power grid still in shambles | Commentary
By Johnny Irizarry Rojas
On Sept. 20, 2017, Puerto Rico suffered the impact of the most catastrophic hurricane in modern times. The widespread destruction of the island’s infrastructure became one of the catalysts for the government to push for the privatization of the island’s energy distribution.
Today, after almost three months of controlling the distribution of electric power in Puerto Rico, the private company, LUMA Energy, has proven to be a disaster. Its performance proves once again that the assumption of efficiency and stability that often follows arguments favoring privatization of utilities and services is not always true.
September 22, 2021
Puerto Rico Report
How the Build Back Better Act Affects Puerto Rico
The Biden Administration’s Build Back Better plan is an ambitious effort to address climate and economic concerns. The House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Veterans’ Affairs, and Judiciary Committees all completed consideration of their sections of the bill last week, preparing the bills for floor consideration. The links will take you to the videos and documents from these meetings.
Decisions made in two of these committees relate to Puerto Rico.
September 20, 2021
KOKI FOX23 News at 9, Tulsa, Okla.
September 20, 2021
WTEN News10, Albany, NY
September 20, 2021
IREC News
Four Years After Hurricane Maria, IREC Is Helping Puerto Rico Rebuild
Four years ago today, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico and led to one of America’s most devastating natural disasters. The hurricane killed thousands of people and caused the longest blackout in American history, leaving more than 200,000 households without power for more than six months.
Today, Puerto Rico is at a crossroads. While the immediate disaster has ended, far more remains to be done to build a resilient and prosperous future for this island home to more than 3 million Americans.
September 16, 2021
El Nuevo Día
White House confirms Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico to avoid a fiscal cliff in the short term
They anticipate a permanent appropriation of more than $3 billion, plus inflation, but Puerto Rico’s government warns FMAP levels still need legislation
Washington D.C. - The U.S. Department of Health has interpreted the 2019 law that increased annual Medicaid funding for Puerto Rico to about $2.9 billion as permanently raising that allocation, including an annual inflation adjustment for the cost of medical services.
The White House said this afternoon that this will represent an investment of more than $3 billion annually permanently that would avoid a fiscal cliff in Puerto Rico’s health care system in the short term.
September 14, 2021
Kaiser Family Foundation
Implications of the Medicaid Fiscal Cliff for the U.S. Territories
By Lina Stolyar and Robin Rudowitz
The U.S territories – American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) – have faced an array of longstanding fiscal and health challenges that were exacerbated by recent natural disasters and most recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. Differences in Medicaid financing, including a statutory cap and match rate, have contributed to broader fiscal and health systems challenges for the territories. While additional federal funds have been provided over the statutory caps, these funds are set to expire at the end of September 2021.
September 8, 2021
HF Statement
Hispanic Federation Proudly Joins LatinoJustice in Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court for Parity in Benefits
By Fernanda Durand
Yesterday, LatinoJustice PRLDEF (“LatinoJustice”) and Kasowitz Benson Torres (“Kasowitz”) submitted an amicus “friend of the court” brief to the United States Supreme Court in the Puerto Rico equal protection case, United States v. Vaello-Madero., which specifically focuses on Puerto Rico. The brief requests that the U.S. Supreme Court overrules the Insular Cases, which essentially held that Puerto Ricans were “unfit” to handle the full rights and duties of citizenship, on the grounds that these cases have no place in modern American jurisprudence. It also asks the court to affirm under a strict scrutiny review the lower court’s holding that the Social Security Act’s (SSA) classification of Puerto Rico as being “outside the United States” for purposes of disability benefits violates the equal protection rights of Puerto Ricans under the Fifth Amendment.
September 7, 2021
Metro Puerto Rico
Delay to increase in the PAN for beneficiaries in Puerto Rico is denounced
A group of 90 organizations asks the United States Congress to end discrimination in benefits against Puerto Rico.
Hispanic Federation, the Coalition for Food Security, and a host of allied organizations urged Congress to end discrimination against Puerto Rico and the territories to provide necessary federal nutritional assistance for low-income families. In letters sent to the US House of Representatives and Senate, advocates asked Congress to take steps to provide equitable funding for the 1.6 million Americans in Puerto Rico who experience food insecurity.
September 7, 2021
CNN Politics
Environmental groups ask Congress to fund billions of dollars in climate measures in reconciliation
By Ella Nilsen
(CNN)As Democratic lawmakers begin crafting a massive $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package this week, a coalition of prominent environmental groups is asking them to include between $577 billion and $746 billion for key climate provisions.
In a letter delivered to members of Congress on Tuesday and shared exclusively with CNN, groups including the League of Conservation Voters, Climate Power, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for American Progress and the Sierra Club laid out what they called a "climate test" of programs they want lawmakers to support, including a Clean Electricity Payment Program, tax credits for clean energy and electric vehicles, and an end to fossil fuel subsidies.
September 7, 2021
Noticel
Urge Federal Congress to End Discrimination in Nutrition Assistance
Hispanic Federation asked Congress to take steps to provide equitable funding for the 1.6 million Americans in Puerto Rico who experience food insecurity.
Hispanic Federation, the Coalition for Food Security, and a host of allied organizations urged Congress to end discrimination against Puerto Rico and the territories to provide necessary federal nutritional assistance for low-income families.
In letters sent to the US House of Representatives and Senate, advocates asked Congress to take steps to provide equitable funding for the 1.6 million Americans in Puerto Rico who experience food insecurity.
Last month, the Biden administration approved the largest increase in food assistance benefits in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), but those benefits did not include Puerto Rico and other territories.
September 3, 2021
El Nuevo Día
Around 90 companies and civic groups ask Congress for equal treatment for Puerto Rico in food assistance
They sent a letter to Congressional leaders in favor of a transition to SNAP and Democratic legislation.
Washington DC - Nearly 90 businesses and civic groups have called on Congress to push forward Democratic legislation that would allow Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands to be included in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).