Puerto Rico appoints think-tank to solve budget crisis, May 9, 2006
Puerto Rico may have received a solution to its budget crisis after Governor Anibal Acevedo-Vila met with the Speaker of the House, the president of the senate, and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Puerto Rico. The solution is to create a four member comission, including a noted economist, a member of the supreme court, a former director of the budget office, and an aide to the Senate president, a comission which is to decide which of the solutions by the political parties is best, and that further, the government is to abide by whatever conclusion is drawn by the comittee. After the international credit agency Moody downgraded Puerto Rican bonds to junk status, the government of Puerto Rico has partially shut down, putting 95,000 people out of work, closing all schools over the island, and letting people in the smaller towns go without water or health care. Members of labor representing the electricians and teamsters are threatening to strike to show support of the jobless workers, a strike that is scheduled to begin May 9. The economic problems in Puerto Rico are as a result of a failure to agree on a new budget – as a result of legislative gridlock, the island is still using the 2004 budget. Other explanations include Puerto Rico’s $740 million dollar debt.
Interesting make-up of a think-tank. The Supreme Court justice, the former budget director and the aide to the senate president are part of the system that led to the problem.
