New York, NY – Today, in the New York City Bar Associate, sponsored by its own committee known as the Puerto Rico Task Force, a presentation was held evaluating the current realities faced by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico under the US Congressional Bill H.R. 4900, also known as PROMESA (Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016).
The moderator was Natasha Bannan, counsel and Co-Chair of the NYC Bar Association’s Puerto Rico Task Force. She first introduced Jessica Mendez-Colberg, partner at Bufete Emmanuelli and counsel for the UTIER (workers union for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority). Ms. Mendez had recently litigated over the questionable legality of the Fiscal Oversight and Management Board in United States Supreme Court, in Washington. As part of her presentation she reviewed the events that took place during that hearing, including her attempt for The United States Supreme Court to acknowledged the racial bias context in the Insular Cases that after over 119 years are still currently used as a legal basis for decision made by the United States Supreme Court that affect Puerto Rico.
Following, Ms. Bannan presented Carlos M. “Charlie” Hernandez Lopez, former Majority Leader of Puerto Rico House of Representatives and current counsel for the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Mr. Hernandez emphasizes how the Fiscal Board (also referred to as “La Junta” for its Spanish reference) are seeking to extend it’s authority and affect the budgetary management of the municipalities throughout the island. He refers to the Boston’s First Circuit determination that the Fiscal Board was appointed illegally and how they seek to increase their reach after this fact. Mr. Hernandez said, “there are 250 million reasons for stopping the fiscal plan, the fiscal plan by the Control Board actually reduces the money the local government allocate to the municipalities”, for San Juan that represents about $60 million.
While there were many great points presented, there were a few take-a-ways that are resounding in this and many other public forums. Particularly, that Puerto Rico debt should go through a forensic audit, that the Fiscal Control Board is both illegal and understood to have conflicts of interest, and that the financial crisis is not an exclusive problem of Puerto Rico, but a problem that also affects individuals and financial institution in the continental United States.
You may watch the full presentation below:
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