WASHINGTON – The House Natural Resources Committee will meet to vote on the recently revised Puerto Rico bill starting on Tuesday and continuing the following day.
The committee will convene at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday solely for opening statements and then will reconvene at 10:00 the next morning for the bulk of the voting session, according to a release. Rep. Sean Duffy, R-Wis., introduced the most recent version of the bill, H.R. 5278, designed to help Puerto Rico and nicknamed PROMESA, late Wednesday night. Puerto Rico is currently struggling with roughly $70 billion in debt and $46 billion in unfunded pension liabilities.
The bill, which is similar to the two past versions, is the product of negotiations between Republicans, Democrats, administration officials, and other stakeholders. House Natural Resources Committee chair Rob Bishop, R-Utah, and his staff have taken the lead on those negotiations.
The bill seeks to balance competing interests by creating a strong oversight board that would have the power to require balanced budgets, address pension liabilities, as well as file debt restructuring petitions on behalf of the commonwealth and its entities in a federal district court as a last resort if voluntary negotiations do not succeed.
Its introduction earlier this week was met with a somewhat tepid response. Many who were involved in the negotiations saw it as a step forward, but said changes would need to be made going forward. Bishop made it clear that any further changes would be considered in amendments offered on the bill..
Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico's non-voting member of Congress, said in a statement on Thursday that the new bill "is not perfect" but that certain issues are expected because it is as a product of bipartisan compromise. He added he will be consulting with House leaders and the Treasury Department as he considers whether to vote for the bill.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the restructuring portion of the legislation is "comprehensive and workable." Many Democrats have looked to Treasury to sign off on the legislative debt restructuring proposal before committing to vote for the legislation.
It is still unclear whether conservative Republicans will vote for the bill. They opposed earlier versions because of concerns its debt restructuring provisions would set dangerous precedents for financially troubled states.
Legislators are working on a tight timeline as Puerto Rico has a $2 billion debt payment scheduled for July 1, roughly $800 million of which is for general obligation bonds backed by Puerto Rico's Constitution. The commonwealth already defaulted on a smaller May 1 payment on Government Development Bank debt. Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla has said the commonwealth will also default on the July 1 payment.
